Tuenis O. TAIT

TAIT, MERCER, SNYDER, MICHINER

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/17/2006 at 17:15:44

Daily Herald [IL]
November 28, 2001

Tuenis O. Tait formerly of Batavia
Memorial services and burial for Tuenis O. Tait, 76, of Mesa, Ariz., will be held on Saturday, Dec. 1, in Goldfield, Iowa. Born Nov. 29, 1924, in Grimes, Iowa, the son of William and Cynthia Tait, he died Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2001, at Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva. Mr. Tait was a teacher for 39 years. At the time of his retirement in 1990, he had taught for 19 years at Batavia High School where he was head football coach for 12 years. In 1991, he was elected to the Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. He was a World War II Army veteran, serving as a paratrooper. He is survived by his son, William Tait of St. Charles; daughters, Leslie Mercer of Elgin and Denise (Mark) Snyder of Geneva; grandchildren, Reid and Brynn Snyder; brothers, Keith (Lonnie) Tait of Mesa, Ariz., Willis (Pat) Tait of Bettendorf, Iowa and Raymond (Mary) Tait of Newbern, N.C.; and sister, Shirley Jean Michiner of Ankeny, Iowa. He was preceded in death by his parents; and wife, Evelyn. Memorials may be made to the American Diabetes Association, Memorial and Honor Program (NCC), P.O. Box 2680, North Canton, OH 44720.

Daily Herald [IL]
November 30, 2001
Author: Daily Herald Staff Reports

Former Batavia football coach Tuenis Tait died Nov. 21 in Mesa, Ariz., just eight days before his 77th birthday. "It was kind of a shock to all of us who knew him," Batavia football coach and athletic director Mike Gaspari said. "He was somebody everyone in our school and in the coaching profession looked up to and respected." Tait, an Illinois High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame inductee, coached the Bulldogs for 12 years from 1970 to 1982. He was a teacher at Batavia for 19 years prior to his retirement in 1990. "He was really, of all the people I worked for as an assistant, the one I consider my primary mentor," said Gaspari, who coached running backs and defensive backs on Tait's staff in 1978-82. "He was very, very dedicated and an extremely hard worker. "Even though our systems are completely different, I learned more from him than anybody I'd ever worked with in terms of fundamentals. He was just a great teacher." Tait, who also coached at Warren High School, was inducted into the football hall of fame in 1991. He implemented a variation of the wing-T offense at Batavia. "It was a very intricate offense," Gaspari said. "Ironically, it was at a time when everyone was starting to throw the ball. I was telling his son Bill that I would be very interested to see how (other teams) would deal with it." The former World War II Army paratrooper worked 39 years as a teacher. Funeral services will take place Saturday in Goldfield, Iowa.