Theresa (Trecie) Batis

Theresa (Trecie) Ausmus Batis, age 106, of Dalton, Georgia, departed this life Sunday, January 11, 2026 at the Regency Park Nursing Home in Dalton.

Trecie was born on February 15, 1919, in Union County, Tennessee. She was the daughter of the late Nancy Collins Ausmus and Jahue Ausmus. She was also preceded in death by siblings Emma Mae McCarty, Milburn Ausmus, Daniel Ausmus, Ed Ausmus, Floyd (Toad) Ausmus, Fred Ausmus, Cecil Taylor, Hazel Haley, Roy Ausmus, Gladys Ausmus, and Horace Ausmus.

She is survived by her sister Retha Anderson of Wadsworth, IL. She is also survived by a host of loving Ausmus family members who loved her deeply.

Treice was born in Union County Tennessee where, as one of the older of the family's children, she spent her early life helping her mother in caring for and raising her younger siblings. Life was hard for the mountain families in the depression era, but love and companionship sustained the family through those tough years.

In the mid 1930s Trecie’s family left East Tennessee due to the building of Norris Dam on the Clinch River near their home.

In her teenage years, Trecie craved adventure and a better life for herself. This led her and a close friend to move North to Ohio in the mid 1940s to find employment in the war effort. Trecie’s dad told her that she would never make it in the North and she would be back home in 6 months. Trecie proved him wrong by living in Ohio for the next 50 years. In Ohio, Trecie was a true “Rosie the Riveter” story finding employment in a factory where she did jobs such as running a drill press producing vehicle axles for the war effort.

While living in Ohio, Trecie met John Maximillian Batis, the love of her life, and they married in 1961. They settled in Euclid, Ohio where they lived a wonderful life together for 32 years of happy marriage. Trecie, not wanting to work outside the home, had John build her a little styling salon in their basement where she had a small home business as a “beauty operator”. John and Trecie loved to travel. They were particularly fond of cruising, spending time in sunny Florida and making yearly trips to the family home place in Murray County for the Ausmus family reunion. Trecie and John enjoyed their 32 years of marriage until John’s death in 1993.

With John’s passing, Trecie had to evaluate her life from that point forward. At age 75, with no children and few relatives on John’s side of the family, she decided that she would move back to Georgia where she would have the loving Ausmus family to spend her remaining years with. Little did she know that she would spend almost 32 years with that family, living out the blessings of a 106 year lifespan.

Trecie is remembered for her dogged determination and fierce independence. She was also a great friend and travel companion to many of the ladies in her community, a faithful member of the Joy Ladies Sunday School Class at Liberty Baptist Church, and one of the cornerstones of the Ausmus family. She was a great proponent of the Ausmus Family Reunion which began 1947 and will celebrate its 80th gathering later this year.

Services to celebrate the life of Theresa (Trecie) Ausmus Batis will be held at 2 PM on Wednesday January 14, 2026 in the chapel of Love Funeral Home with the Reverend Danny Cochran officiating. The family will receive friends at Love Funeral Home from 12:00 PM, Wednesday until the service hour.

The family would like to thank all the staff of the Gardens at Royal Oaks, Regency Park Nursing Home and Hamilton Hospice for their kind and loving care of “Aunt Trecie” during the last few years of her life.