Thomas Scott Trautman, a Vietnam veteran, a cattle farmer, a passionate lifelong tennis player, and a long-time Fauquier County resident, died on Sept. 28, 2022, at Fairfax Hospital. He was 77.

Mr. Trautman, who lived in Rectortown, Virginia, at the time of his death, was born in Pensacola, Florida, on Sept. 17, 1945, the son of career Navy man John Robert Trautman and Mary Holzer Trautman.

As a military family, they lived in a number of locations around the country, including Hawaii. Mr. Trautman graduated from Punahou School in Honolulu, the same institution that lists President Barack Obama, golfer Michelle Wie and philanthropist Steve Case among its graduates.

Mr. Trautman was a fine athlete at an early age, playing on a Hawaiian baseball team that advanced to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, when he was 12. He played baseball at Punahou, as well.

He graduated from William & Mary in 1967. He was a Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity member and a pitcher on the school's baseball team. He always joked that one of his main claims to fame included pitching in a game at the Naval Academy and hitting future football Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach in the foot with a wild pitch.

Mr. Trautman was a member of the school's ROTC program, and not long after graduation, he joined the U.S. Army, where he trained as a helicopter pilot. He flew a number of helicopter missions during his tour of duty in Vietnam, many of them to rescue wounded soldiers in the field.

When he was transferred back to the U.S., he was stationed in Savannah, Georgia, where he was a flight instructor until he was honorably discharged. Before going overseas, he married Betsy Walker. They eventually divorced, and their two children, Brett Overton Trautman and Virginia Elizabeth Trautman preceded Mr. Trautman in death.

After leaving the military, Mr. Trautman moved to the Warrenton area and worked as a mortgage broker for several firms, including The Fauquier Bank and the Briner Mortgage Company.

In the mid-1980s, he purchased Windfield Farm in The Plains, where he changed careers and began to raise Black Angus cattle until he retired in 2015. He often said that working on the farm and being in the cattle business was among the great joys of his life.

Throughout his adult life, Mr. Trainman was a highly accomplished tennis player. He was a member of the Middleburg Tennis Club and Chestnut Forks Athletic Club in Warrenton. A tenacious competitor, he regularly represented both in matches against other clubs, and he won a number of tournaments at those two facilities and elsewhere, playing singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

Mr. Trautman was a friendly, approachable, gregarious man with a delicious sense of humor.

"Tom never met a stranger and he treated every day as a gift," said Chip Maloney, the owner of Chestnut Forks. "Throughout our 40-plus year friendship, I met more people because of Tom, who was far more outgoing than I am….He was an exceptional athlete who excelled at tennis, basketball, pool, ping pong, softball. Very competitive but he always displayed great sportsmanship. Tom is one of the best people I've ever known and a friend for the ages."

Mr. Trautman is survived by the longtime love of his life, Elizabeth Lawrence of Warrenton; his sister, Linda Sullivan of Appleton, Wisconsin; his daughter, Lily Elizabeth Trautman of Warrenton and three grandchildren, Brett Cooper DeBergh and Sophia Elizabeth DeBergh of Ladera, California and Rain Elizabeth Trautman of Warrenton.

A viewing and celebration of life service will be held at the Royston Funeral Home in Marshall on Sunday, Oct. 23, starting at noon. A reception will follow at the Middleburg Tennis Club.

Memorial donations in Mr. Trautman's name can be made to Boulder Crest Retreat for veterans and first responders at PO Box 117, Bluemont, VA 20135.