Sept. 15, 1950 – Oct. 20, 2017

 

NATCHEZ — Services for Larry “Joe” Stutzman, 67, who died peacefully early Thursday morning, Oct. 20, 2017, will be 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Laird Funeral Home Chapel.

A graveside service will follow in the family burial plot at Evergreen Cemetery in Woodville.

Visitation will be from 12:30 p.m. until service time Sunday at the funeral home.

Mr. Stutzman was born Sept. 15, 1950, in Tulsa, Okla., the son of Robert Evans Stutzman and Blanche Beeman Stutsman.

The family moved to Woodville in 1953, for a short period of time before moving to Natchez where Joe lived the majority of his life.

He was a 1968 graduate of Natchez Adams High School. He played the French horn in the marching band and was a member of DECA. After graduating high school, Joe worked for Diamond National in Natchez until joining the U.S. Army in September 1971.

While in the army, he was stationed at Fort Polk, La., Fort Monmouth, N.J., Naples, Italy, and for an extended period of time, Izmir, Turkey. During his time in Turkey, he served as an E5 Signal Corps Specialist. He had advanced electronic training working on installation and repair of cryptographic communications machinery and was given a high level of security clearance to perform this work. He was very fond of his time in the service and often commented that the army took him to places he never thought he would see.

Following an honorable discharge from the service in 1974, Joe began working for the U.S. Postal Service in 1977. If you were on his mail route, you know that he enjoyed getting to know his customers and telling stories. He retired from the postal service in 2007.

Joe was a devoted father to his children, Sara and Jacob. He made them the number one priority in his life and was very proud of their accomplishments. He would always stop to watch Sesame Street with them, gave silly names to Sara’s Cabbage Patch Kids, helped with homework every night and spent an untold number of hours throwing the baseball and football with Jacob and timing him during runs. A die-hard Ole Miss fan, he saved his pocket change throughout the year so he could take the family to at least one Rebel football game each year.

An avid family historian, he was able, with the help of family members before him, to trace his ancestry back to the original village in the Alsace-Lorraine region of France (formerly part of Germany.) He was also an ardent defender of his southern heritage and enjoyed learning about Civil War history.

Joe was a music buff. He prided himself on naming both well-known and obscure songs by name and artist. He had an extensive music collection, which included original Beatles and Rolling Stones vinyl. His favorites included the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Gram Parsons, Elvis, Billy Joel, the Eagles, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Jason Isbell and Drive-By Truckers.

During his retirement years, Joe made it a point to do his best to help anyone in need. He volunteered at the Humane Society, enjoyed his prayer meetings with friends and spend as much time as he could with his family and his dogs.

His home is now in heaven with the Lord and with those who went before him.

Joe was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Robert Evans Stutzman Jr. and his wife, Janie, and Bobby Jack Stutzman; one sister, Sandra Stutzman Freeman; brother-in-law, Thomas Brashier; nephew, Kyle Dinning; and longtime family friend, Ida B. Johnson.

Survivors include one daughter, Sara Stutzman Strength and husband, Travis, and their children, Lillie and Nolan, all of Skipperville, Ala.; one son, Jacob Thomas Evans Stutzman and wife, Erica, and their children, Gordon and Ellen, all of Jackson; four siblings, Mary Brashier of Heidelberg, Chuck Stutzman and wife, Lisa, of Natchez, Eddie Stutzman of Mesquite, Texas, and Jimmie  and wife, Leone, of Baton Rouge; one brother-in-law, David Freeman of Natchez; and a number of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.

He is also survived by his dogs, Chico and Little Girl.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Natchez Humane Society.

Online condolences may be sent to lairdfh.com.