Downtown businessman Tommy Sappington dies suddenly

Second-generation downtown business owner and community leader Roy Thomas “Tommy” Sappington, 66, died of an apparent heart attack Saturday afternoon.

Medical Examiner-Investigator Pam Boman confirmed that Sappington and his wife, Martha Carolyn, had just closed their store, T. Sappington and Co., about 5 p.m. Their vehicle had just pulled out of a parking space and stopped at the Tanglefoot Trail intersection on Bankhead Street when Sappington apparently collapsed and died.