Charles Robert Somma Jr., AKA Bobby, passed away on August 20th, 2023 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, TN following a short but courageous battle against cancer. Funeral services will be conducted at 2pm Thursday, August 24, 2023 in the chapel of Austin & Bell Funeral Home in Greenbrier with Bro. Jon Briggs and Bro. Steve Sorrells officiating. Burial will follow in the Greenbrier Cemetery with Will Lunn, Justin Couts, Brian West, Josh Callis, Michael Richter, and Tim Cliburn serving as pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers are Mike Eddings, Joey Smith, Jeff Smith, and the employees of Hollywood Feed.
The family will receive friends from 4pm Wednesday, August 23rd and again from 12pm until time of the service at 2pm Thursday at the funeral home.
Bobby was born on April 28th, 1978 in Nashville, TN and was raised in Greenbrier, TN. He attended Greenbrier schools and graduated in 1996. Bobby, an avid sports fan, loved all things sports, especially University of Tennessee football, the Titans, Nashville Predators, and Nashville Sounds baseball. He began playing baseball at age 4 and it became, quickly, his #1 sport. Throughout his teens, many have said, he was impossible to strike out at the plate. Although small in stature, he swung a big bat. After high school, Bobby began coaching 13 – 14 yr olds in the Greenbrier Youth baseball league. He taught many young men the value of a strong work ethic and to always respect the game and others.
Bobby was quick to make friends with anyone he met. Most of his lifelong friends didn’t refer to him as a friend, but as a brother. Whether you had went to school with him or if you had met him at work, he was loved by everyone. Even customers at his Hollywood Feed store on White Bridge Rd., where he was the Store Manager, would agree he was a quick friend. He knew it was important to learn his customers names and made their shopping experience personal. He would make sure to ask how their day had been or asked about their pets and their needs. He loved all animals, especially dogs and cats.
Bobby will be missed by his many friends and family. He is proceeded in death by his father, Charles R. Somma Sr., maternal grandparents, Roy B. And Nell Elmore, Aunt, Mary Ann Elmore, and his favorite cat, Puddin. He leaves behind his mother, Bunny Somma of Greenbrier, brother and sister-in-law, J.R. And Michelle Somma of Rossville, TN, niece, Swain Somma, his 4-legged son, Whiskey, and many other “brothers”.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made in his name to the American Cancer Society, Greenbrier High School Baseball team, or to you local animal shelters.
Austin & Bell Funeral Home in Greenbrier is in charge of these arrangements.
