Cecil Earl Stafford Sr.

The family will receive friends Thursday, August 10, 2023, from 1 until 2 p.m., at Kilgore-Green Funeral Home. Funeral service will follow at 2 p.m. in the Kilgore-Green Chapel, with burial at Carbon Hill Memorial Cemetery. George Barrera will officiate.

Cecil founded Stafford-Culligan in Jasper with his wife, Virginia, and built it into a thriving, diverse business before retiring and traveling across the world, including to the Holy Land and the Panama Canal. As a sailor, he served in the Navy and proudly wore a Navy baseball cap throughout retirement. He was also a 50-plus year member of York Lodge #211, the York Rite Bodies, Scottish Rite Bodies, and the Zamora Shrine Temple.

As a huge fan of Halloween, Cecil became a familiar fixture in Heritage Hills handing out several hundred bags of candy to trick-or-treaters, laughing and smiling the entire night. Through the years, he also prepared and donated hundreds of boxes of dishes, silverware, and household goods to shelters and the Red Cross to help people who had to start over in their lives due to fire, storms, or tragedy.

He was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Virginia Smith Stafford, and parents, W.P. and Carrie Stafford of Carbon Hill.

He is survived by his son, C. Earl Stafford, Jr. of Jasper, and his wife Myra Montgomery Stafford; one daughter, Lori Stafford-Thomas of Tampa, FL, and her husband, Jeff Thomas; three grandchildren, Trey Stafford, Audrey Beth Stafford, and Spencer Stafford Thomas; one nephew, Bill Smith of White Bear Lake, MN, and his wife, Kathy Jacobson Smith; and one niece, Shannon Howe of Gibbon, MN, and her husband, Brett Howe and a host of other relatives and friends.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that you make a contribution to the Alzheimer’s Association. While Cecil did not have Alzheimer’s his beautiful bride, Gini, did and he always wanted to find a cure for it so no one else would suffer.

The family would like to thank all the nurses who helped Cecil and his long-time caregiver, Lori Logan for their love and support.