Floyd Melvyn Sulser Jr.

Floyd Sulser lived a full Mississippi life. The retired attorney and lumberman enjoyed each day to the fullest: whether on the tennis court or in the field after wild game, reading postmodern fiction or savoring a single-malt Scotch, he embodied the lines from his favorite Tennyson poem: “Life piled on life were all too little; I will drink life to the lees.”

Floyd was born in Port Gibson, where he and his brother Ralph and their cousins roamed the woods and the streets of downtown. His first job was working the concession stand of his grandmother Phoebe’s movie house, The Trace, where he sold boxes of popcorn for a nickel apiece. When the family relocated to Jackson, he attended Provine High School, where he played quarterback for the Rams and graduated in 1964.

At Ole Miss, Floyd pledged Sigma Chi, played on the tennis team, and majored in business, with an undeclared minor in beer and billiards. He and Nancy Stodghill married while students at Ole Miss and their first daughter, Kristen, was born in Oxford. The couple’s younger daughter, Lauren, was born in 1972. Floyd completed his undergraduate in 1968 and his law degree in 1971. He served as a Captain in the Army's JAGC from 1971 to 1974, graduating from the University of Virginia’s School of Military Science and acting as Summary Court-Martial Judge while at Fort Story. After military posts in Alabama and Virginia, the family returned to Jackson.

Floyd was a founding member of the firm Bennett, Lotterhos, Sulser & Wilson, PA, established in 1980. He was with the firm for many years, until going of counsel to join the leadership of Southern Lumber Company, from which he retired in 2015.

Floyd will be remembered as a dear friend to many companions from the array of passionate interests that shaped his life—hunting, fishing, books, music, travel, and good company. A lifelong Episcopalian, he will be sorely missed by his fellow parishioners of St. Columb’s, Ridgeland, where he filled many roles in church leadership, including lay eucharistic minister and member of the vestry.

Floyd’s service to the business and philanthropic communities was extensive. He was president of the board of directors of the Mississippi Lumber Manufacturers’ Association and of the Mississippi Food Network. He was a trustee of St. Dominic’s Health Services Foundation and a board member of Canopy Children’s Solutions and Friends of the J.D. Williams Library at Ole Miss.

He is survived by his wife Regina “Bean” Sulser and daughters Kristen Sulser Guinn (Matthew) and Lauren Sulser Benner (Frank), and their children Braiden and Phoebe; and Walker, Holden, and Liza; and by his brother Dr. Ralph Sulser. He will also be missed by his many beloved cousins and his comrades in the Hard Times Literary Society and Drinking Club.

The family expresses their gratitude to Floyd’s compassionate caregivers, especially Dr. Rebekah Moulder; the UMMC Cancer Center; MD Anderson Cancer Center; Covenant Caregivers; and Traditions Health.

Visitation will be held at St. Columb’s Episcopal Church at 550 Sunnybrook Road from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Friday, November 22. A second visitation will follow on Saturday, November 23 from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m., when the Burial Rite will begin.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that memorials be made to St. Columb’s Episcopal Church or to the Floyd Sulser Family Scholarship Endowment with checks payable to the University of Mississippi Foundation, 406 University Avenue, Oxford, MS 38655.