Extracted from The Shreveport Times (Shreveport, LA)
The Reverend James Lamar Stovall
BATON ROUGE, LA - Rev. James L. (Jimmie) Stovall, 83, died peacefully on Friday, May 17, 2002, in Lake Charles of conditions resulting from Alzheimers disease. He was born into a large and loving family in Winn Parish, Louisiana. He was a graduate of Byrd High School and Centenary College in Shreveport. In 1942 he married Alice Mills of Dallas, Texas. He was a loving husband for 59 years and a devoted father and grandfather.
The life of Rev. Stovall was characterized by a deep and abiding love of God and a commitment to serve the church. As a youth in Shreveport he felt a call to the ministry and attended Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and was subsequently ordained as a minister in the United Methodist Church. During World War II he was a Navy Chaplain attached to the U.S. Marine Corps, including service in Nagasaki, Japan. From 1946-1976 he was a devoted pastor to congregations of the United Methodist Church in Eunice, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, Lafayette, Metairie and Monroe. He was also committed to the ideal of ecumenism and gave energetic, visionary leadership to the Louisiana Interchurch Conference from 1976 to 1991. Some of his accomplishments during this period include leadership of a project to build an Interfaith Chapel at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, co-organizer of the Interchurch Farm Crisis Coalition (1976) and co-organizer of the Greater Baton Rouge Federation of Churches and Synagogues (1987).
Jimmie Stovall also believed in showing his faith in action and demonstrated his commitment ot human dignity and civil justice in numerous forms of public service including service as a member of the Louisiana Apprenticeship Council (1968), as a delegate to the state Constitutional Convention (1973), chairman of the Governor's Pardon and Parole Study Commission (1976), Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Elderly Affairs (1979-80), member of the Louisiana Commission on Human Rights (1992), co-organizer and chairperson of the Louisiana Coalition Against Racism and Nazism (1989-92).
Throughout his life, he demonstrated great respect, concern and generosity for each person he met and undying optimism about the human spirit. He was the recipient of numerous awards for his community service including The Human and Civil Rights Award from the National Association of Educators (1992), an award for “Ou[ts]tanding Service to Humankind” from the Louisiana Chapter of NAACP, the Benjamin Smith Civil Liberties Award from the ACLU of Louisiana. He was also commended recently by the Louisiana House of Representatives for his public service and his outstanding contributions to this congregations and communities and to many civic and public endeavors.
Jimmie was preceded in death by his parents, Dennis Mackey and Louella Gaar Stovall, and his 4 brothers, D.M., Karl, John, and Woodrow Stovall and 1 of his sisters, Velda Stovall Prince. He is survived by 4 of his sisters, Maureen McCarty, Sarah Fouts, Evelyn Finuf and Carlotta Ferguson; by his daughters and sons-in-law; Mary Alice Richard Ballard and Milo Ballard, Sally Emerick Rodriguez and Julio Rodriguez, Carol and Pete Broussard; by his son, James L. Stovall, II; and by his 10 grandchildren: Christopher Richard, Michael Richard, Lora Broussard, Lee Emerick, Rebekah Broussard, Teresa Emerick, Sarah Broussard, Julia Stovall, Maryanna Broussard, and Martin Stovall; and by 3 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be Monday, May 20, 2002, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., at Rabenhorst East Funeral Home, 11000 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA and from 10 a.m. to 10:45 pm, at the church prior to the funeral on Tuesday. The funeral will be held on Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Broa[d]moor United Methodist Church in Baton Rouge. Interment will be on Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Forst Lawn Cemetery in Shreveport.
Memorial donations may be made to the Southern Institute for Education and Research (Tolerance Education), in care of C. Broussard, 111 W. Pinewood, Slidell, LA 70458; or to the Methodist Home for Children in New Orleans in care of Broadmoor United Methodist Church.
Monday, May 20, 2002