W. R. Sumrall
W. R. “Bud” Sumrall Crystal Springs, MS W.R. “Bud” Sumrall, 92, passed away on Thursday, March 5, 2020. He had been a resident of Southern Oaks Assisted Living Center in Henderson, TN since November 2015. Visitation will be from noon until 2:00 pm on Wednesday, March 11, at Stringer Family Funeral Home in Crystal Springs, MS. with the service beginning at 2:00 pm followed by burial in Crystal Springs Cemetery. Bud Sumrall was born in Crystal Springs to Wilbur Robert and Lucy Prewitt Sumrall on December 13, 1927. He was active in Scouting and became an Eagle Scout during his youth. Bud graduated from Crystal Springs Consolidated School in 1945, and upon graduation, entered the U.S. Army. He was stationed on the island of Oahu near Pearl Harbor where he completed his military service in 1947 and was Honorably Discharged in the rank of Corporal.
Bud returned to Crystal Springs, and married the love of his life, Peggy Ruth Hinson on December 28, 1947. They moved to New Orleans where Bud entered college at Tulane University while also working for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as an Inspector in the seafood industry along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. He later transferred to Clinton, MS where he completed his BS degree at Mississippi College.
Upon graduation from college, Bud continued his work in FDA, moving up through the ranks with positions that took his family to Cincinnati, Ohio and finally Atlanta, Georgia. With five young children and a yearning to leave the traveling life behind, Bud moved his family back to Hazlehurst, MS were he owned and operated a Western Auto Store for five years before merging and ultimately partnering that business with the Western Auto Store in Crystal Springs, MS in 1962. He ultimately became the sole owner of that business which he operated until the time of his retirement in 1994.
That same year, Bud and Peggy moved their family into the ante-bellum home west of Crystal Springs that had been built in 1856 by his great-grandfather. Bud and Peggy raised their five children in the old family home, lovingly preserving and refurbishing the home that they would use not only for shelter from the elements but to teach and train their children about life, love, and hard work. They became adoringly known as “Maw-Maw and Paw-Paw” to eleven grandchildren, and twenty-four great grandchildren. Bud and Peggy lived there together until her death in 2011 and in 2015 Bud moved to Henderson, TN where his oldest son Bob and his wife Lana have lovingly cared for him until the time of his death.
Bud Sumrall was a Christian, and a member of First Baptist Church in Crystal Springs, and especially enjoyed the fellowship of his friends in his Sunday School Class. Bud was preceded in death by Peggy Hinson Sumrall, his wife of 64 years. He will be sorely missed by their children: Ann (Bob) Boone of White House, TN; Dr. Bob (Lana) Sumrall of Henderson, TN; Sam (Janice) Sumrall of Bondurant, WY; Peggy (Jeff) Gardner of Crystal Springs; and David (Jamie) Sumrall of Crystal Springs, MS. Bud is also survived by their grandchildren, great grandchildren. The oldest of three children, Bud is survived by his sisters, Bevely Powers of Auburn, AL and Martha Shultz of Dayton, OH along with numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his memory to the St. Jude’s Children Hospital, or to the charity of their choice.
