I lived life to the fullest each and every day, and gained a great amount of life experiences and wisdom. I had the honor to be born to Elbert Lee and Julia Ann Lovett Rawls, who are now with the Lord. I have one wonderful brother, Gerald Lee Rawls who married Mary Anne Carter. God gave me the woman of my dreams, Fay Dell Thornton that I had the pleasure to live with for fifty-one wonderful years before she went home to be with the Lord. We enjoyed three lovely children, Marc Webster, Tod Benson and Tonya Dell Rawls. Marc went to be with Lord at an early age. Tod married Monica Ragan and they had two lovely girls, Ragan Alexandra, who married Garrett Bickham, and they have two children, Walker and Vivian; and Elisabeth Grace. Tonya married a great guy, Patrick Richmond Jackson, that I admired very much and they had Lee Richmond, Luke Marshall and Ellie Kate. I had the privilege of having ten nieces and nephews and eighteen great-nieces and nephews, and seven great-great nieces and nephews.
I graduated from Ouachita Parish High School in 1954 then entered the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict and was discharged in November 1957, continued in the reserve where I became assigned to the 917 MAG at Barksdale AFB and became a crewmember on a C-124 aircraft where I had the opportunity to see the world. Later I enrolled in Bossier Parish Community College and transferred to NLU where I earned a BA and MA in Criminal Justice. I was then employed at Bossier Parish Community College for 25 years in the field of Criminal Justice. There I founded the Northwest Louisiana Regional Criminal Justice Institute that served ten parishes in northwest Louisiana.
Come celebrate my life at 11:00 a.m., on Monday, April 15, 2019, at Mary Queen of Peace Catholic Church, with Monsignor Earl V. Provenza officiating. You may visit my family at Hill Crest Memorial Funeral Home on Sunday evening, April 14, 2019, from 4-6 p.m., knowing I’m now with Fay, Marc and other family and friends that are with the Lord.
Serving as pallbearers are Patrick, Lee, and Luke Jackson, Garrett Bickham, Hunter Pipes, and Tribbey Thornton.
You may offer condolences to the family by visiting www.hillcrestmemorialfh.com.
