Thomas (Tommy) Ray Kay, 64, known affectionately by all who loved him as TK, passed away April 3, 2020 at his home in Huntsville, AL after a brief illness. Tommy was born in Anderson, SC to John Ralph and Elizabeth (Liz) Kay and move to Huntsville as a young child.
Tommy was passionate about baseball and CLEMSON University, which wasn’t ever easy growing up in Alabama! He loved golf, music (especially The Grateful Dead and Springsteen), cars, Andy Griffith, Charlie Brown and enjoying life. He was known for his loyalty to those he loved and worked with and his acceptance of people for who they were. He was a man with no prejudices, a high regard of empathy for others, and the ability to make everyone light up around him with his radiant smile.
As a child, Tommy loved spending his summers visiting his grandparents, Mama and Daddy Kay and his Aunt Barbara in Anderson, SC. From an early age he began playing baseball and traveled on several All-Star teams. He attended Butler High School where he played varsity baseball and went to the State Playoffs two years in a row. After high school he attended Martin Jr. College on a baseball scholarship, after which he was redshirted at his beloved Clemson. He had always dreamed of playing baseball at Clemson and made more lifelong friendships during that time.
Tommy eventually returned to Huntsville and worked in the restaurant industry before going to work at the southeast YMCA as Program Director. Later, he coached the girl’s softball team at Johnson High School for several years. He loved coaching and his players loved him. From coaching he continued to work with the school system, where he found a special calling to work with students who were “differently abled”. He later went to work for Project Search a transition program, where he helped more than 70 young adults with disabilities become successfully employed. He became their mentor, their job coach and their biggest fan. He was so proud of the work he was doing and the people he was working with that he often said, “I can’t believe I get paid to come here!” Tommy touched countless lives in such a positive way.
Tommy was preceded in death by his father, John Ralph Kay; brother, Randy Campbell; grandparents, Ralph and Higgins Broadwell Kay, Wayne and Emma Rollison, and Christine Sanders; and great-grandmother, Lillie Sanders.
Tommy is survived by his wife, Meg; his mother, Liz, of Huntsville; sister-in-law, Celeste Campbell; nephew, Pierson Campbell; his uncle and aunt, Eddie and Barbara Kay Poole; cousins, Scott, Tasha and Brent Poole, of Anderson, SC; and several other relatives, as well as, a host of close friends and co-workers who considered him family.
Due to the current pandemic, there will not be a service at this time. We hope to have a celebration of his life later and for now we carry him with us in our hearts, forever smiling at his sense of humor, his passions, his love and profound sense of helping others. He is and will be greatly missed. May he always keep on “Truck’n” down that “Thunder Road.”
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Project SEARCH Huntsville through the ARC of Madison County; 1100 Washington St. Huntsville, AL 35801 in Memory of Thomas Kay.
