Dr. Howard Stuckey Wilcox

A Graveside Service for Dr. Howard Wilcox will be held on Thursday, January 11, 2024, at 10 a.m. at the Grand Cane Cemetery in Grand Cane, Louisiana.

Dr. Howard Stuckey Wilcox, age 95, was born in Boyce, Louisiana on October 24, 1928, and died peacefully in his sleep on January 6, 2024.

Dr. Wilcox was educated in the public schools of Boyce and Shreveport, Louisiana. He graduated from Byrd High School in Shreveport in June 1945. He continued his studies at Northwestern State College, Southwestern Louisiana Institute and Louisiana State University.

He entered Auburn University in September 1949, and received the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine in 1953. After serving in the Veterinary Corps of the US Army (1954-1958), he returned to Auburn University where he earned the degree of Master of Science in Veterinary Medicine.

In 1953, Howard married Martha Ann Thornton of Tallassee, Alabama and after briefly practicing veterinary medicine in Haynesville, Louisiana and serving 50 months in the army, they returned to Louisiana and started their life in Grand Cane, Louisiana. At first Howard rented land on the Longstreet Road where he began his dream of being a dairy farmer. At the same time, Dr. Wilcox built a small animal veterinary clinic in Grand Cane where he took great care of the animals of DeSoto Parish and surrounding areas. In 1968, he bought land east of Grand Cane where he continued his dream by building a state of the art dairy business and traveling with his young family to Wisconsin to buy a starting herd of Holstein Cows. While he continued his small animal practice, he also developed a large animal practice serving the many dairies and farms of DeSoto parish and surrounding areas. In addition to running his dairy and veterinary practice, Dr. Wilcox managed to plant a large garden each year. He shared his love of gardening with his wife and daughters as everyone participated in both planting and harvesting, as well as sitting on the screen porch for hours shelling baskets of peas.

Howard Wilcox was a man of faith who loved his family and his community. He devoted time to several local boards including the Methodist Church of Grand Cane and Central School Corporation. In the early 1990s, Howard Wilcox was instrumental in the restoration of the Grand Cane Methodist Church and the rebuilding of the steeple which included restoration of the stain glass windows and rehanging the original church bell.

Dr. Wilcox was a quiet and determined man who always chose to respectfully do right by others. Those who knew him also loved his dry sense of humor. One of the strongest legacies he left his daughters, sons-in-law and grandchildren, was his phenomenal work ethic. All of these qualities served him well throughout his long, beautiful life.

Dr. Howard Stuckey Wilcox is preceded in death by his parents, Floyd Jay Wilcox and Florence Stuckey Wilcox; his siblings Floyd Jay "Jimmy" Wilcox, Jr. (Gertrude), Emma Adney "Mickey" Wierick (Buddy), Lester Henry Wilcox, and Florence Agnes "Bootsie" Wilcox. Howard Wilcox was also preceded in death by his first wife, Martha Ann Thornton Wilcox, and by his second wife, Mary Ann Griffith Wilcox.

Left to cherish his memory are his three daughters: Pam Huey and husband Bob, Ann Wilcox, Elizabeth Irwin and husband Ed, grandchildren Martha Ann Wesley and husband Whitman, Joseph Howard Irwin and wife Lisa, Benjamin Irwin and wife Jenn, and Zachary Irwin and wife Ashleigh; as well as nine great grandchildren: Jack, Abby, William, Ken, Mari, Ellis, Henry Howard, Huey and Whit; the Griffith siblings and their extended family, and his sister in laws Vera Wilcox and Patsy Thornton, and his many nieces and nephews.

The family would like to express gratitude to St Joseph Hospice and to the staff of Montclair Park Assisted Living for their wonderful care of their father; and a special thank you to their father's devoted caretaker Ella Allums and his sitters, Liz Rawls and Sherry Henderson, and his hospice nurse, Sarah Suvilcich.

Contributions in his memory may be made to the Grand Cane Methodist Church or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.