J. W. "Bill" Underwood

James Wilbur Underwood, 94, passed away in his sleep at home August 21, 2015. Wilbur, as he was called while growing up in Newton and Scott counties just outside Sebastopol, MS, was born to Marvin and Della Underwood on May 5, 1921.

Wilbur graduated from Sebastopol Vocational High School. He attended Draughn’s Business College in Memphis, Tennessee before beginning work in Jackson, MS at the Capital National Bank, now Trustmark National Bank. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Navy for four years. His Navy buddies liked calling him Bill instead of Wilbur, and his first name thereafter became Bill. Upon his return to civilian life, he was made manager of the Capital National Bank’s Veteran Administration Branch. During this time at the Bank and Navy, he met and married Martha Varnado of Jackson, MS.

In 1946, Bill entered the real estate business and organized his own company in 1948. J.W. Underwood & Companies grew to consist of all phases of real estate, including land acquisition and development, single-family and multi-family home construction, new home sales and re-sales, wholesale lumber yard, utility business, insurance, mortgage financing, and commercial development and management. The Company has built over 7000 homes while designing and developing over 25 different communities. One development, Crossgates, was the first large 1700 acre master-planned community in Mississippi.

Bill was always on the cutting edge of new ideas. Throughout his career, he traveled extensively in search of new development trends and the most advanced techniques of selling and marketing his products. For example, he was the first Mississippi developer to use a model home concept to sell Underwood Homes. He had the first “Talking House,” and was the first in the area to build on the slab foundation instead of the traditional, conventional foundation.

Bill was extremely active and recognized in many business and civic organizations. He was inducted into the national Association of Home Builders Housing Hall of Fames in Washington, D.C. in 1984 and inducted into the Mississippi Association of Home Builders Housing Hall of Fame in 1989. He was a director of Deposit Guaranty Corp. and Bank for 30 years and a member of their Executive Committees. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Mississippi Baptist Hospital – Medical Center for 32 years, where he was chairman of the Executive Committee and President of the Board. He also served as director of the Pearl River Basin Development District and member and President of AHEAD.

Bill was past President of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, on the Board of Trustees of Jackson Public Schools, chairman of the Jackson City Planning Board, President of the United Way of the Capitol Area and charter member of the Hundred Club of Jackson. He was a member of Northminster Baptist Church.

Bill was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Martha, of 68 years. He is survived by his son, Tom, and his wife Monica; granddaughter, Dusty, and her husband, Todd Reynolds; three great-grandchildren, Evans, Asher, and Tully Reynolds; his sister-in-law, Mary Felbinger, and her husband, Harvey.

Visitation will be Tuesday, August 25, 2015, from 12:00 to 2:00 P.M. at Northminster Baptist Church, 3955 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS and a service to follow at 2:00 P.M. at the church.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the Wider Net Northminster Church, 3955 Ridgewood Road, Jackson, MS 39211 or to the charity of your choice.