Services for Earl Joseph “Joe” Lutz will be 10:30am Tuesday January 30, 2018 at Crawford-Bowers Funeral Home in Killeen. Burial will follow at 12:00pm at the Central Texas Veterans Cemetery in Killeen with military honors.

Earl Joseph “Joe” Lutz was born on March 24, 1933, in Lancaster, Ohio, to Willard Earl and Ruth Lutz. He was the fourth of five siblings and their only son. Joe graduated from Lancaster High School in 1951 and enlisted in the Army in December of the same year where he proudly served as an MP for more than 20 years, spanning conflicts in Korea, Indo-China, and Vietnam. While stationed in Germany, he was a member of the USAEUR Elite Rifle Team and completed his military career at Ft. Hood and Ft. Wolters, TX. As much as Joe loved serving his country, he may have loved hunting and fishing even more.

On January 23, 2018, God released Joe Lutz from this World and walked him home. And anyone that knows him can be sure he’s on a quiet river bank somewhere in Heaven, basking in the miracle of nature, casting his fishing pole and waiting on a nibble.

Joe is survived by the love of his life, his wife of 59 years, Merdice “Mert” Lutz; four daughters, Donna Spencer (Brad), Karen Sears, Joni DeLosSantos (Carlos), and Bobi Baker (Corey); and four grandchildren, Bryan Kehn, Elizabeth Kehn, Alexander Baker, and Joseph Baker.

The family will receive visitors from 6-8pm Monday January 29, 2018 at the funeral home.