Obituaries for the Week of August 8, 2007

The Newton Record

NEWTON August 08, 2007 02:19 pm

— Lloyd Lamar Blount

Lloyd Lamar Blount, 87, died at his home in Decatur on Monday, Aug. 6, 2007. Born on April 11, 1920, Blount was the youngest of 12 children of Annie Amanda Breazeale and Pleas Clayton Blount.
Lamar loved football and he loved his family.
He began his football career at Philadelphia High School but transferred to Decatur prior to his junior year so he could play at East Central Junior College his last two years in high school before signing a football scholarship with Mississippi State University. At MSU Lamar was a star wing back for the Bulldogs while playing in the backfield with his Philadelphia High School friend and teammate, J. T. “Blondy” Black, and lifelong friends, John Grace and Billy “Spook” Murphey.
During his sophomore year at MSU (1941), the Bulldogs won the SEC Football Championship and were in San Francisco, Calif. for a bowl game when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japanese aircraft, signaling the United States entry into World War II. In March 1942, Lamar and many of his MSU teammates joined the U. S. Marine Corp and were placed in the Marine Reserve awaiting further orders.
Lamar married the love of his life, Naomi Gibb Foster, on Dec. 23, 1942. Naomi was the daughter of Jesse and Elizabeth Foster of Philadelphia. In July, 1943, Lamar was assigned to the Marine V-12 Program at Duke University. While at Duke in the fall of 1943, Lamar starred on the Blue Devil football team and was named first team All Southern Conference. In November, 1943, Lamar was called to active duty and was sent to Camp Lejeune, N.C. for basic training followed by Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Va. where he earned his commission as a 2nd Lt. in the U. S. Marine Corp in July 1944.
On April 11, 1945, on his 25th birthday, Blount was shipped out as a replacement officer for Okinawa where he remained in combat until the island was secured. He would have been a part of the ground-troop invasion of the mainland of Japan had Japan not surrendered. He was transferred to Beijing, China where he served until March, 1946, as part of the repatriation of China and was honorably discharged in April, 1946.
Upon his return home from the war, Lamar entered the professional football draft, signed a contract and played professionally as a defensive end for several years, beginning with the Miami Seahawks of the old All American Football Conference, then the Buffalo Bills and finally with the Baltimore Colts.
After his retirement from professional football, Lamar purchased land near Decatur where he and his wife, Naomi, ran a dairy, beef and timber operation until their retirement. Lamar was named as a member of the East Central Community College football Hall of Fame. He and Naomi were long time members of the Decatur United Methodist Church.
Lamar was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Naomi, a son, Kenneth Lloyd “Kenny” Blount, his parents, four sisters, Minnie Lee Wall, Lillie Gallaspy Wright, Lou Ella Gordon Kennedy, Edna Ware, and five brothers, Henry Blount, Hardy Blount, John Blount, Jasper Blount, and Clarence Blount.
Lamar is survived by two sisters, Ida Mae Foy and Ruby Robinson Mayberry, three children, Sylvia Lynn Blount Mayo and her husband Dale E. “Bud” Mayo of Bartlesville, Okla., Joseph Lamar Blount and his wife, Rosalie Luke Blount of Jackson, Jackie Elizabeth Blount Harrison and her husband, Harry Harrison of Oxford ; six grandchildren, Dr. Colby Mayo of Edmond, Okla., Dr. Cory Mayo of Lee’s Summit, Mo, Keri Lynn Mayo Adams of Dallas, Kenneth Ralph Blount of Jackson, Wyo., Jennifer Leigh Blount Broad of Nashville, Tenn., and seven great-grandchildren, Delaney Mayo, Dylan Mayo, Daylee Mayo, Ashton Mayo, Ben Blount, Emma Blount, and Joseph Broad.
Lamar Blount wanted to be remembered by his family and friends as a great football player, a loving son, brother, husband, father and grandfather. But more importantly, he should be remembered as one of many patriots from our country’s Greatest Generation whose personal sacrifices made the world a much better place to live.
Visitation will be on Thursday, Aug. 9, from 9-11 a.m. prior to the funeral service at 11 a.m. at Newton County Funeral Home, 9998 Miss. 15 North, Newton. Burial will be in the Decatur Cemetery immediately following the service.