Louie Neil Blount, age 80, excused himself from the mortal world to join our Heavenly Father on January 24, 2021. Born in the small town of Freeport, Florida on March 9, 1940 to Louis (“Louie”) Needham and Margaret Milbra (Stafford) Blount, he grew up amid hard work and happiness. With nary a video game nor smart phone to be found, he did the unthinkable and worked multiple jobs, played basketball, studied like a kid whose parents were both educators, rode his bike all over town and built enough character to last a lifetime. The Blount House is now maintained by the Town Planters Society of Freeport as a historical landmark and community center.
During his service in the United States Navy, Louie met the love of his life in 1962. He soon married Suzanne Fry at her home in Elsa, Texas on September 8th of that same year. Together, they embarked on an almost six-decade journey that had far more ups than downs and blessings beyond measure.
After a few years of various jobs and various houses across the southern United States, Louie and Suzanne welcomed their two children to this world. Jessica Lee (Blount) Bailey landed first, followed by her brother Derek Needham Blount. With their arrival, Louie finally had an opportunity to distill some of that built-up character into two developing humans. He relished this challenge and proved an extraordinary teacher. For no matter what other responsibilities he may have faced, his children never had a doubt that they were his highest priority, his immeasurable pride and his greatest love (well, right up there with Suzie, at least).
In 1974, Louie and Suzanne arrived in Brownwood, Texas with two toddlers and a plan to start a communications business focused on two-way radios, pagers and the like. From the trunk of an old car, they built a business that would come to employ dozens, support the community and provide a nice living for the young man who grew up in Freeport hoping only to one day live in a house with indoor plumbing. They moved to Early, Texas in 1984 with indoor plumbing in spades.
Despite the responsibilities and pressure of owning and operating a small business, Louie never missed a piano recital, soccer match, dance performance, football game or any other activity involving his kids. In a world where so many put family on the backburner to focus on “this-one-thing-that’s-really-important-right-now,” Louie never lost sight as to what was truly important.
Throughout his life, Louie led by quiet example, doing the right thing while never drawing attention to himself. He helped neighbors in need. He gave a lift to strangers with car trouble. He lent an attentive ear to men and women many years his senior, knowing that they often just needed someone to listen. He was a member of Austin Avenue Church or Christ and served the church as best he knew how (in his later years, this largely involved supplying donuts, thus further increasing his popularity). He never met a stranger.
He was a man of principles, and you can read about those principles today, just open your Holy Bible and you’ll find a veritable “How To” guide for life and what comes after. He believed in right and wrong, never cottoning to the modern notion of subjective truth (or anyone declaring their actions justified based upon “my truth”). John Wayne would have tipped his hat.
As much joy and pride as Louie found in his children, those feelings were surpassed with the birth of his grandchildren—all you had to do was ask him. For a man of few words, he could find a great many when speaking on the subject of grandkids. For Louie, nothing in life could match his delight in watching his grandchildren eat ice cream for the very first time or learn to ride a bike or throw a baseball or read a book. And for those grandkids, there was nothing quite as special as seeing that smile on their Papa’s face as he gave them a hug and told them in his deep, deep voice how proud he was of their accomplishments.
Louie is survived by his wife, Suzanne, his children, Jessica (Darren Bailey) and Derek (Bethany), his beloved grandchildren, Mackenzie Keilers, Chase Keilers, Ashton Bailey, Bubba Bailey, Ayden Bailey, Harrison Neil Blount and Roland Needham Blount, his brother-in-law Jesse T. “Tony” Buxton of Freeport, Florida, and countless friends and family whom he positively impacted in ways both large and small.
Louie’s family would like to extend their deepest gratitude to the ICU staff of Brownwood Regional Medical Center for their communication and compassion during the past three weeks. In particular, the family would like to recognize the loving care of ICU nurse Amber Witt and Dr. Amber Ervin.
A Time of Remembrance will be held at 2:00pm on Wednesday, January 27th at Heartland Funeral Home at 303 Early Blvd in Early, Texas.
In lieu of flowers, Louie’s family asks that you think carefully of a way you could use that time and/or money to help improve the life of someone you know…and that you then follow through with it. Soon. None of us are promised a tomorrow. Make today count by helping someone else.
