Fred Thomas “Tommy” Ratchford, Jr. was born on October 31, 1948 in San Diego, California, the son of Fred Thomas Ratchford Sr. and Ina Ruth McGuffee. His father was a Chief Warrant Officer in the U.S. Navy. His family first moved to Pensacola, Florida in the 1950s, but because of being in a military family, Tommy moved quite often spending parts of his childhood in Cairo, Egypt and Guam. His family finally settled in Pensacola in July 1964 and Tommy graduated from Escambia High School in 1967.
Tommy went on to attend the University of Mississippi and later graduated from Florida State University Law School with a law degree. Like his father, Tommy served in the U.S. Navy, being commissioned as a Lieutenant, Junior Grade on September 5, 1971 and a full Lieutenant on July 1, 1974. After the completion of his education and military service, he settled down in Pensacola where he became a longtime and well recognized attorney.
On June 7, 1975, Tommy married Charleyn Palmer “Polly” Swinford in Pensacola. Polly was a native of Pensacola and was born on February 26, 1949, the daughter of William McKinley Swinford and Eleanor Anne Jones. The couple continued to live in Pensacola and on November 14, 1978 they became the parents of a daughter, Amanda Ratchford, their only child. Tommy and Polly were divorced on April 19, 2001. Tommy went on to marry his second wife, Suzy Brumfield.
Tommy’s legal skills became well known in the Florida panhandle when he became a regular on a local Pensacola’s Blab TV’s “Justice for All” show focusing on legal issues. Blab Television is a broadcast station in Florida which reaches from the Florida panhandle to the broader Gulf Coast region including Alabama. Tommy continued his legal career until his retirement from his law practice on May 31, 2018.
As a teenager, Tommy became a rock ‘n’ roll band leader. He became part of his first band, called The Xenos, in November of 1964. Tommy wrote, “It was truly what you would call a garage band.” Friends often gathered at the Ratchfords’ home, where he had added a music room complete with stage, sound equipment and lighting, decorated with photographs from his many band performances. Music from those many parties could be heard throughout the neighborhood on weekend nights.
Ratchford was known by many Escambia County residents as lead singer and keyboard player for Gallery Night trio, The Song Byrds, with friends Jeff and Andree Byrd. Across the decades, he was a leading member of such local rock ‘n’ roll bands as Soul-7, Laymen, George Emmanuel Trio and Six T’s. He also was founder of The Pensacola Super Band, which performed at opening weekends for Pensacola Beach Bands on The Beach.
Tommy died on June 3, 2018 in Pensacola after a brief illness and he was cremated. Following his death, his former band members held a musical celebration of his life in downtown Pensacola. A traditional funeral service was held at the Olive Baptist Church.
LINEAGE: (Fred Thomas “Tommy” Ratchford, Jr. was the son of Fred Thomas and Ina Ruth McGuffee Ratchford, Sr., grandson of William Thomas and Minnie Viola McCasland Ratchford, great-grandson of Thomas Jesse and Mary Stanley Thomas McCasland and great-great grandson of James Clark "Muck" and Mary Elizabeth Josephine Lawrence Thomas. James Clark was the fourth child of James, Jr. and Margaret Ethridge Thomas. James Thomas, Jr. was the sixth child of James and Mary Standley Thomas.)
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