Tommie L. Battle Jr.
Tommie Lee Battle Jr., 57, of Lehigh Acres, founder of several semi-professional football teams in Southwest Florida and a National Minor League Football Hall of Fame inductee, died May 22. He was born December 10, 1951, in Rutherford, Ala., and graduated from Fort Myers’ Dunbar High School and attended Allen University and Alabama A&M University.
He retired after 33 years with the Gulf Coast Center in Fort Myers. He also was a Pop Warner coach and helped to bring minor league football to Southwest Florida.
He was a member of Mount Hermon Ministries in Fort Myers.
Battle is survived by his wife, Cynthia; his mother, Eloise Battle; seven children; 17 grandchildren; and five siblings.
A public viewing is Friday, May 29, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Hickson Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 30, at Covenant Community Ministries (formerly Riverside Church, 940 Tarpon Street) with Apostle William Glover of Mount Hermon Ministries officiating.