Ford Franklin Petty Jr.

He was 95.

A memorial service is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Thursday, at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Cathedral in Jackson with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. in the church parlor. Interment will be in Lakewood Memorial Park. Wright and Ferguson is in charge of arrangements.

Survivors include his daughter Diane, her husband, Dr. Robert Maddux, and their sons, Ford Reid and Samuel Lowry, all of Whitfield.

“He was the quintessential, renaissance man,” Dr. Maddux said,” and he was my friend. I have never known anyone like him. We’ll all miss the pleasure of his very good company.”

Petty, the son of the late Alma Burkett Petty and Ford Franklin “Doc” Petty, was born in Los Angeles, CA, on June 14, 1916. He attended public schools there and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1940 from the University of Southern California.

He served in the United States Army in the Pacific Theatre during World II and with the Occupation Forces in Japan after the war ended. When he returned to this country in 1947, he moved to New Orleans determined, as he frequently said, “to write the great American novel.” When that process proved “slower than he’d hoped,” he enrolled in Hudson Strode’s noted creative writing program at the University of Alabama where he met his former wife, Jane Reid Petty.

He and Jane married in 1949 and lived in Mexico and New Orleans prior to returning to Jackson in 1950 when their daughter, Diane, was born and he joined the Sam B. Reid Agency. He became a partner in the insurance agency in 1960. He established Southern Cross Underwriters, a general insurance agency in 1976 and was its president until he sold the agency and retired in 1986.

Petty was active in various professional insurance organizations and was one of the founders of the Mississippi Insurance Institute. The organization was established after Hurricane Camille specifically to assist Camille victims in filing and speeding up their claims process.

Petty was also among a small group of Jacksonians who founded New Stage Theatre in 1964. He served as the board president for many years.

“Ford, as much as anyone, is responsible for New Stage Theatre being the outstanding regional theatre that it is today,” said James K. Child, a founding and lifetime board member. It was not only his vision some 46 years ago but also his dedicated efforts in the many years following in support of the theatre that have resulted in our community and state having this valuable cultural resource.”

“He was like a stealth bomber as an art force in the community, “ Patti Carr Black, another New Stage founding and lifetime board member, said. “New Stage would not exist today without his moral and financial support in its formative years. He was a writer, philosopher, generous host and friend. He had a calming influence on all who knew him – and at 95 was still an extraordinarily handsome man.”

In retirement, Petty spent many of his days writing. He was editing a novel called Cabbage Rose at his death.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials go to New Stage Theatre, 100 Carlisle, Jackson 39202.