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Longtime Graham coach passes away this morning

Thu, 07/07/2016 - 1:23 pm

A fatal vehicle accident occurred on Point Road in Graham at 8:03 a.m. today, Thursday, July 7, involving Tommy Grace, a 63-year-old Graham Junior High School teacher and coach who has been a part of Graham ISD for more than 20 years. According to the Young County Sheriff’s Department, which is investigating the case with the Department of Public Safety, it is possible that Grace had a heart attack that caused his death just before the wreck.


“He has served the community of Graham and the students of Graham ISD for a long time. I loved and respected the man. And he has done a lot of great things for kids over the years, and he will be missed,” said Graham ISD Superintendent Sonny Cruse. “We came to know each other because we had a common background because we both graduated out of Tarleton, so we would we talk about that. He was just a really nice man.”


Grace most recently taught science and was the boys athletic director at the junior high, according to GJHS Principal Ginger Robbins, who said that he was well respect by both his students and colleagues in GISD.


“He was a phenomenal person, you know. He touched a lot of lives. Kids respected him; teachers and colleagues respected him. He is just going to be greatly missed,” she said. “He taught science for us and was the boys’ athletic director at the junior high, and, you know, he will be just be so missed because of all that he did and truly a servant to community, to the kids.”


Grace spent his time living on Lake Graham with his wife, Debra, and enjoyed golfing, according to Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services Robert Loomis. In his downtime Grace not only worked on his golf swing but became a positive influence to the many youth in Graham, Loomis said.


“Tommy was a really positive influence on kids. Not withstanding his great teaching and great coaching habits, one of the very big pluses of Tommy’s was how he interacted with the youth. He was real easy going and a very, very good man,” Loomis said.


Before working at GISD, Grace worked in the public sector, said Graham High School Principal Joe Gordy. When Grace’s wife retired, Gordy said, Grace moved on to work at A&M Consolidated High School as a coach and as a defensive coordinator at Granbury High School, but later he moved back to working in Graham at the junior high. For the last four or five years, Gordy said, Grace worked halftime as a coach at the junior high and also taught science. Previously, Grace taught science and coached at the high school.


“He coached football, basketball, track, golf, girls basketball, I don’t know if he ever did volleyball, at different points in his career. So he has coached everything,” Gordy said. “He taught science and PE at his current assignment at the junior high and was the boys athletic coordinator.”


Before stepping into the role as GHS principal, Gordy was the junior high principal and a teacher and coach at the junior high and during that time had the opportunity to work with Grace. Since Gordy started in Graham as a teacher/coach 18 years ago, he said, he has never heard one person say anything bad against Grace.


“Coach Grace was here when I first came in to Graham as a coach and teacher, so I have know him 18 years, and I can’t think of anyone who has ever said a bad word about him. I can’t think of anyone who doesn’t like coach Grace, and that’s hard to do in athletics,” Gordy said.


Having been around in Graham for 23 years, Grace taught many generations of students and even taught two generations of Gordy’s family.


“He transcends generations because coach Hogan and Bobby Williams and some of the old coaches in Graham coached with coach Grace when he was younger,” Gordy said. “He was my wife’s basketball coach in high school, and then he coached my son last year. So he has coached two generations in our family already. We can’t find any better person to work with our kids.”