William Larry Jordan

William Larry Jordan was born on December 3, 1945 in his family’s home in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He was the fifth of seven children, and the youngest son born to Tommie Bland Jordan and Ezekiel Jordan, Sr. Larry, as he was called by family and friends, accepted Christ as a child and was baptized at Antioch Baptist Church of Hattiesburg, where he attended with his beloved Aunt Ollie, whose house he enjoyed staying at on the weekends. From an early age, Larry was energetic, resourceful and adventurous. He was an active member of the Boy Scouts for many years. As a boy, he and his close friend Carl would enjoy gathering scrap materials to build their own go-carts and race them through the neighborhood. Larry and Carl would also pretend that the wooded area in their neighborhood was their own personal jungle where they would take their BB guns and go hunting and have fun climbing trees. They would also create their own cooking area in their “jungle” by building a fire and using bricks to roast sweet potatoes.

Larry was a natural athlete. He was good at playing many sports including being a member of the Boot Walker Youth Baseball team that won a Youth World Series. At Rowan High School, he was a talented Defensive Back on the football team and was so good, that he was a starter on the varsity team as a freshman and throughout all four years of high school. Larry and the other members of his football team made it to the State Championship game 4 years in a row, winning three of those championships. They even defeated Walter Payton and his high school football team when they played against them.

After high school, Larry followed in the footsteps of his older brothers Ezekiel Jr., who served in the U.S. Air Force and Tommy (Yonnie) who served in the U.S. Navy. Larry joined the United States Army and honorably served his country as a member of the 101st Airborne Division, the “Screaming Eagles” during the Vietnam War. One of his many duties in the Army was to jump out of airplanes and helicopters, and be ready to hit the ground running during missions. At one point Larry and his big brother Zeke were serving at the same time and were blessed to be able to meet up with each other one weekend in Vietnam. After his time in the Army, Larry decided to further his education and enrolled at the HBCU, Bishop College in Dallas, TX where he pursued a B.S. degree in History/Political Science. It was at Bishop that he met the love of his life, Priscilla Walker Jordan who became his wife of 48 years before her sudden passing in 2019. To their union, two daughters were born, Monica and Keesha, who were the younger sisters of Larry’s first-born child, Carlos Scott.

Larry and Priscilla lived and worked in Dallas where they raised their daughters and resided for 27 years before moving to Beaumont, Texas in 1994. While in Dallas, Larry had a 20- year career as a Cable Foreman for AT&T in Mesquite, Texas. During the second half of his life in Beaumont, he worked with several companies including the City of Beaumont Streets and Drainage department, Browning-Ferris Industries and several contract jobs in the construction industry. In his spare time, Larry was an avid sports fan who loved watching NFL and NBA games. He played various team sports in local recreation leagues on his jobs and in his community. He was very interested in politics and was a big History Buff who always stopped at historical markers and landmarks on long road trips to expose his children to history. He enjoyed watching political news shows and his favorite shows that he watched every single day were the Joy-Anne Reid show on MSNBC and Roland Martin, Karen Hunter and Dr Gregg Carr on YouTube. In his golden years, his respiratory flare-ups from COPD became more frequent and slowed him down some, but he did not let it stop him from his favorite pastimes of tending to his plants, growing beautiful flowers, doing yard work, an occasional fishing trip, watching cooking videos to try new recipes with his kitchen gadgets, and being a BBQ Grill master who grilled delicious ribs and a tender brisket.

Larry was a devoted Son, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Brother, and Uncle who truly loved his family. He was equally loved by his family and friends, and the loss of him leaves a tremendous void in their lives. Left behind to cherish precious memories of Larry are his daughters, Monica Jordan and Keesha Jordan of Dallas; his son, Carlos Scott, Sr. (Tyesha) of Charlotte, NC; his grandchildren, Alexia, Brhionan, Patricia, Kaileesi, Shaylynn, Carlos, Jr. and Kameron; his younger sisters, Ann Jordan and Deborah Jordan of Hattiesburg, Mississippi and a host of nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, cousins, other relatives and friends. Larry was preceded in death by his wife, Priscilla; his parents, Ezekiel, Sr. and Tommie Jordan; his brothers, Ezekiel Jordan, Jr. and Tommy Jordan; his sisters, Dorothy Jordan and Carolyn Jordan Smith and his nephew and nieces who were like younger siblings to him, Leonard “Pete” Jordan, Sharon “Tee-Lee” Jordan and Victoria “Mickey” Jordan Easterling.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.laurellanddallas.com for the Jordan family.