William Basil Stricklin, Jr., a longtime resident of Crystal Springs, Mississippi, died Saturday evening, May ¬18, from complications of a stroke. He was 88 years old. Mr. Stricklin is survived by his wife of 33 years, Joyce Bankhead Stricklin.
He is also survived by his sister, Ruby Busick; four children and step-children, Shelley Stricklin Wierick (husband, John) Scott Stricklin, Cindy Pramuk (husband, Al) and Ken McManus; as well as six grand-children: Rachel Wierick, Mason Wierick, Shelby Stricklin, Jennifer Pramuk, Alan Pramuk and Jason McManus. He was preceded in death by two children and one stepson, Lisa Stricklin Tolar (husband, Dan), William Basil Stricklin, Jr., and David McManus. Mr. Stricklin grew up in Yazoo City, Mississippi where he attended Yazoo City High School and excelled in athletics, eventually earning a football scholarship to Mississippi State University.
He was a starting offensive lineman and letterman at MSU, as well as a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. After graduating in 1952, Mr. Stricklin married Lillian Greer, also of Yazoo City, and the couple moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, where Mr. Stricklin was in the United States Army until 1954, playing football and serving as company paymaster. After being discharged, the couple returned to Jackson, Mississippi, where Mr. Stricklin began a twenty-plus year career with Caterpillar of Jackson, selling heavy construction equipment throughout the southeast.
Several years after his wife died from Huntington’s Disease, Mr. Stricklin met and married Joyce McManus, and the couple settled in her hometown of Crystal Springs for the next 33 years, where Mr. Stricklin was active brokering residential real estate and land transactions until recently. An avid hunter who loved horses and had a great affinity for the outdoors, “Basil” will be remembered by his friends and family as someone who never met a stranger. Gregarious by nature with a booming, joyful voice, he loved hearing and telling a good story.
A mountain of a man but a teddy bear at heart, Basil will be greatly missed by all. A celebration of Mr. Stricklin’s life will be held 2pm Tuesday, May 21, 2019 at the Stringer Family Funeral Home in Crystal Springs, where visitation will begin at 12:30pm. If you’d like to make a donation in Basil’s memory, please consider a gift to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, www.
hdsa.org, 505 Eighth Avenue, Suite 902, New York, New York, 10018. To share a tribute or leave a comment for the family, please visit the Stringer Family Funeral Services website. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of William Basil Stricklin Jr. please visit our Sympathy Store.
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