STIGLER, Henry Walton – 1926-2020 Henry (Buddy) Stigler passed away on Monday February 17, 2020, at age 93. He was born on April 15, 1926, in Greenville, Mississippi to H. W. Stigler Sr. and Mariaddie Maxwell Stigler and raised in the small cotton farming town of Drew, Mississippi. He played football at Drew High School, at Mississippi State (where he earned his degree in electrical engineering), and for the U.S. Navy. In the summer of 1945, the Navy assigned him to a secret mission aboard the USS Indianapolis, the ship that carried components for the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. As fate would have it, just before the ship departed, a Navy dentist determined that Buddy had too many cavities to set sail and he was reassigned to a Navy base in Idaho. The Indianapolis was subsequently sunk by a Japanese submarine on its way back from its mission, resulting in the greatest loss of life at sea in the history of the U.S. Navy.
After World War II, Buddy joined IBM in Jackson, Mississippi as a customer engineer, although he had never heard of the company. In Jackson, a beautiful girl, Jeanne Jones, caught his eye as she worked in the IBM office window on a large machine. They married in 1950 and were blessed with three children. After moving several times they settled in Armonk, New York, except for a one-year assignment at MIT's Sloan School of Management where Buddy earned a Masters degree in Industrial Management. In 1988, when Buddy retired after a 39-year career at IBM, they relocated to Madison, Connecticut to be closer to their sailboat. After Jeanne's death in 1994, Buddy married Ruth Fowlkes of Clarksdale, Mississippi. Ruth was a childhood friend and they had fond memories of their time together in grade school and at Kamp Ki-Y in the Ouachita Mountains. Buddy and Ruth enjoyed a loving marriage until Ruth's passing in 2012. Buddy also enjoyed a close relationship with Ruth's children, Beth DuVall and Dr. Tom Fowlkes, and their families. In addition to Jeanne and Ruth, Buddy was preceded in death by his sister, Meredith Marston of Richardson, Texas.
In 2013, Buddy married Peggy Salley of Lyon, Mississippi with whom he shared many joyous times with friends and family. They enjoyed traveling and attending church activities together. Buddy is survived by Peggy; his daughter Charlotte Stigler Fikes and husband Richard Fikes of Dallas, Texas; son Jim and his wife Lisle of Studio City, California; and son Tom and his wife Erika of Northport, New York. Buddy always enjoyed the many visits and family reunions with his ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren: Andrew Fikes and his wife Sara and children John and Katie of Los Altos, California, Daniel Fikes of Dallas, Texas, Sam Stigler and his wife Seema and their son Noah of Santa Monica, California, Thomas Stigler of Pacific Palisades, California, Charlie Stigler of San Francisco, California, Henry Stigler and his fiancée Jocelyn Gianatasio of Huntington, New York, James Stigler of Brooklyn, New York, Jason Loose and his wife Jess of Thousand Oaks, California, Owen Bissell and her husband Matthew of Sherman Oaks, California, and Reed Loose of Goleta, California.
A resident of Clarksdale for 25 years, Buddy was a member of St Paul's United Methodist Church where he was active with many church projects. While living in Clarksdale, Buddy and his family spent summers at their home in Connecticut overlooking the Long Island Sound. He enjoyed sailing, traveling around the world and visiting family and friends. Buddy will be fondly remembered for his deep love for family and for God, his passion for sailing, his generous heart, his integrity, his kindness and willingness to help, his aptitude for fixing pretty much anything, and his ability to make those around him smile.
Buddy's family gives special thanks to his amazing caregiver, Tomara Wales of Clarksdale, who laughed with him, shared his stories, and devotedly kept him well-nourished, safe and healthy.
A visitation, followed by a memorial service, will be held at 10:00am on Saturday, February 22, 2020 at Clarksdale United Methodist Church in Clarksdale, MS. Burial will be held on Monday, February 24th at 9am at Beaver Brook Cemetery in Clinton, CT. Memorial gifts may be made in Buddy's name to the Clarksdale United Methodist Church or Clarksdale Care Station. Funeral arrangements entrusted to Meredith Nowell Funeral Home, 314 E. Second Street, Clarksdale, MS.
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