Lee Moss

Mr. Lee Muse Moss, age 74, of Murfreesboro, TN lost his courageous battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, and transitioned to Heaven on Tuesday, September 2, 2025. He was born in Nashville, TN on June 23, 1951 to the late Dorothy Ray Muse and Chase Moss.

Lee was a 1969 graduate from Hillwood High School in Nashville where he lettered in football, basketball, and track. He was president of his senior class and a member of Sigma Phi Omega fraternity. It was at Hillwood where he met his bride, Susan, and they married on June 30, 1973. Lee graduated from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 1973, majoring in banking, and was a member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, serving as rush chairman and treasurer. Lee retired in 2021 after 48 years in banking, serving as President of Franklin Synergy Bank and Franklin Financial Network prior to its merger with FirstBank in 2020. Prior to that, he served as Senior Vice President for SunTrust Bank in Nashville, then Regional President for SunTrust Bank in Murfreesboro. Later, he served as Chairman and CEO of MidSouth Bank in Murfreesboro, where Lee served as an organizer with Jack and Ben Weatherford. He also graduated from The Graduate School of Banking of the South at LSU and the National School of Commercial Lending.

Lee was very active in his community, having served as Chairman of the following boards: Tennessee Bankers Association, Ascension St. Thomas of Tennessee, Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford, Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce, United Way of Rutherford County, Discovery Center, American Heart Association, UT Davidson County Alumni Association, the Nashville Downtown Optimist Club, and as Archon (National) President for Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity. He also served on MTSU’s Foundation and School of Business boards, as Treasurer of the Jennings Jones Foundation, Trustee of the Murfreesboro Community Investment Trust, and on the board of The Journey Home. For over 20 years, Lee served as a guest lecturer at MTSU and UTK, teaching Financial Analysis and Business Ethics.

Lee was recognized as one of the 2023 Tennessee Bankers Association Leaders in Banking Excellence, as the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce 2019 Business Legend and 2006 Business Person of the Year, 2018 Distinguished FIJI, YMCA’s 2012 Humanitarian of the Year, and the 2004 Jennings Jones Champion of Free Enterprise from MTSU’s School of Business. Lee and Susan were awarded the Liz Rhea Philanthropist Award in 2025 by Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford Hospital Foundation. He graduated from Leadership Rutherford in 1996 and Leadership Middle Tennessee in 2011. He officiated high school basketball for TSSAA in middle Tennessee for 26 years and coached Little League baseball for five years. He served on the Administrative Board as Finance Chair and as Lay Leader for First United Methodist Church, Murfreesboro where he taught the Koinonia Sunday School Class for 25 years. He earlier served as Chairman of the Board of Elders at Woodmont Christian Church in Nashville where he also taught the high school Sunday School class and served several years with Susan as Youth Group Sponsors.

Lee’s faith in God and Jesus Christ grew strong over the course of his years and this was the basis for his life. He loved people as evidenced by his many endeavors. He was graced with the gifts of tact, humility, diplomacy, integrity, and humor which endeared him to his coworkers. Most of all, he loved his family deeply and was a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather. Lee loved playing golf and pickleball with friends, spending time with family and friends at Cener Hill Lake on their houseboat, riding his bicycle many miles daily, running the Country Music Half Marathon several years with Laura and Robert, building homes on mission trips with Chase, and teaching Katherine to waterski, then watching her perfect it as an adult. He equally loved playing ball with and walking his loveable Westie, Ellie. He was known as Mossy and Pops to his grandchildren.

The family wishes to express their deep gratitude to Lee’s physicians and nurses at Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford and West hospitals, as well as all of his wonderful nurses and caregivers at Adams Place rehab, and at home with Alive Hospice.

Memorial gifts in Lee’s honor may be made to: Charity Circle of Murfreesboro, Memorials and Honorariums, P.O. Box 11128, Murfreesboro, TN 37129; The Lee and Susan Moss Family NICU, Ascension St. Thomas Rutherford Foundation, 1700 Medical Center Parkway, Murfreesboro, TN 37129; or Phi Gamma Delta Educational Foundation, P.O. Box 4599, 1201 Red Mile Road, Lexington, KY, 40544-4599

Lee is survived by his wife of 52 years, Susan Ostroski Moss; children, Katherine Moss Alexander and her husband Chris, John Chase Moss and his wife Cat, and Laura Moss; grandchildren, Caleb, Connor, Kenna, Kyan, and Kellan; brothers, Joe Moss and his wife Martha and John Adams Moss; niece, Kim Moss Flores and her husband Juan; and nephew, Joseph Chase Moss. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by son, Jason Robert Moss, and nephew, Sean Hennessee Moss.

Visitation with the family will be Tuesday, September 9, 2025 from 1:00pm until 5:00pm at First United Methodist Church, Murfreesboro. A Celebration of Life will held Wednesday, September 10, 2025 at 11:00am at First United Methodist Church, Murfreesboro. Burial will follow at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens in Nashville. The following friends will serve as pallbearers: Colin Barrett, David Beeny, Steve Carr, Marvin Carver, Chip Hunter, Steve Jaynes, Bob Lamb, Lee Midgett, John Muse, Allen Oakley, Mike Shain, Ron Shuffield, Tom Summers, and Tim Wagner. Honorary pallbearers are banking officers who worked with Lee and brothers and spouses of Phi Gamma Delta.