Bagwell

Robert Elmo Bagwell, 89 of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, died May 30, 2021, in Jackson, Mississippi. He was born Oct. 12, 1931, near Dimmitt, Texas, to Jim and Robertha (Wood) Bagwell. He attended his early school years in the Bethel Community School until the family moved to a farm and ranch near Amistad, New Mexico, in 1944. There he attended grades eight through 10, then graduated from Clayton High School in Clayton, New Mexico, in 1949. He went on to attend New Mexico A&M in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he participated in the ROTC program.

While in college, Robert spent one summer in India, having been selected to go by the International Farm Youth Exchange program (IFYE). He and the other young men who had been chosen all returned to the U.S. on the Queen Mary. The entire experience was an eye-opening event for a farm boy! He enjoyed sharing those experiences with the family through the years, and always appreciated having been given that opportunity. Another summer he spent several weeks on a range management tour as part of a college course requirement, visiting ranches all over New Mexico. At that time, he expected to spend his life as a farmer and rancher.

Robert (his college friends soon called him Bob) joined the Air Force after college. His last year of service was spent in Korea during the Korean War, in charge of a radio unit. He shared some harrowing stories of their experiences in the mountains of Korea with the snow and extreme cold temperatures. At the end of his tour, as he was heading back to the U.S. to be discharged, he went to Japan where he purchased yardage of beautiful silk fabrics to take home for his mother and his three sisters. His mother, who was a gifted seamstress, sewed the silk into beautiful dresses and other items. He also purchased a beautiful set of china which he later gave to his new wife.

After his discharge, he ordered a new Chevrolet pickup, and picked it up at the factory in Detroit as he was on his way home. The only color the factory had available that day was school bus yellow; it served him well for many years. He and that yellow pickup drove to Mississippi on the way back to New Mexico, to visit his best friend from college who was living there. While there, he was introduced to a girl named Billye Faye Wade.

Falling in love with Billye Faye, Robert moved to Mississippi, where he and his love were married in 1956. The marriage produced two wonderful children, Michael and Donna, and two beautiful grandchildren, Riley and Kyla.

For several years, he worked as a carpenter and because of his exceptional skills and leadership ability, he was hired as the superintendent for a major construction company in Jackson, who built both large commercial and residential buildings. He loved working with beautiful woods and began making cabinets on weekends. The two owners of the construction company then began hiring him to make the cabinets for many of the homes they built. When those two gentlemen retired, he was hired in the same capacity with a second company where he worked until he retired. He continued custom building cabinets for several more years.

Robert was a voracious reader from the time he was a child, and after his retirement, he was never without a book. As a boy, he always loved to create things with his hands. He continued that interest as he created a vari ety of beautiful things to share with his family. He learned to turn bowls and made them from a variety of exotic woods. He made his mother a perfect model of a wooden windmill, replicating those with which he had grown up. He hand-carved or cut every small piece, and everything was to scale.

His brother J.A. gave him a large collection of elk antlers he had found on his ranch in Colorado, and Robert made letter openers and handles for sturdy wooden walking canes, again from a variety of woods. He made all three of his sisters and his sister-in-law, Edwyna, beautiful jewelry boxes, each one different.

Caring. Generous and conservative, Robert felt deeply although not expressing this in words, but deeds. He enjoyed doing for others, especially if it involved his creativity.

The most important thing in his life was family. Parents, siblings, nephews and nieces, along with aunts, uncles and cousins, always came first. In 2019, he attended his last family gathering in Texas, celebrating his sister LaTrelle’s 80th birthday.

Robert is survived by his son, Mike Bagwell of Hazlehurst, Mississippi; daughter, Donna Smith, granddaughters, Riley and Kyla Smith, all of Wesson, Mississippi; sister, LaTrelle Bagwell of Marble Falls, Texas; nieces, nephews, and cousins. He was predeceased by his wife, Billye Faye; his parents; sisters, Christine Bell and Grace Marie Holland; brothers-in-law, Ray McEntire, Orlan Bell and Dudley Holland, brother, J.A. Bagwell; sister-in law, Edywna Bagwell; sister-in-, Janice Dalton; and nephew, Brian Stillings.

A service was held at the Center Point Methodist Church Cemetery at 10 a.m. on June 4, 2021, conducted by the Rev. Stuart Givens, minister of the Sylvarena Baptist Church in Wesson. An American flag was presented to the family and taps were played by an Air Force Honor Guard.