April 14, 1926 – March 5, 2013

NATCHEZ — A celebration of life service for William Howard Pritchartt Jr., 86, of Natchez, who died Tuesday, March 5, 2013, at Natchez Community Hospital after a brief illness, will be at noon Saturday at Laird Funeral Home Chapel.

Burial will follow at the Natchez City Cemetery under the direction of Laird Funeral Home.

Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until service time Saturday at the funeral home.

Mr. Pritchartt was born April 14, 1926, at the Natchez Sanitorium, the son of William Howard Pritchartt Sr. and Elizabeth Rose Grafton Pritchartt.

At the age of 18, Pritchartt volunteered to join the U.S. Army during World War II, where he served in intelligence and reconnaissance. He traveled to Europe on the Queen Mary and had a number of memories of his exploits overseas.

Pritchartt was an entrepreneur. Although he studied at the University of Mississippi, at the College of William & Mary and at Amherst in preparation for his appointment to West Point, he left early to begin his career as a realtor and developer. With partners and friends Paul Green, George Guido and Waldo Lambdin, he developed a number of subdivisions, including Broadmoor and Pineview Subdivisions and The Trees. He also was involved in the development of Woodhaven next to Trinity Episcopal School and LaGrange Subdivision near Liberty Road.

Pritchartt was instrumental in creating Trinity Episcopal School, visiting schools all across the country to learn about how to build a proper educational institution. He also donated the land and built the main building on U.S. 61 South.

Pritchartt’s life was defined not only by his children but his love of the outdoors, and in particular of the Mississippi River, where he spent his youth with friends rowing the river, camping on sandbars, hunting, fishing and enjoying all that nature had to offer. His love of the river was inspired by his father who often took him and his friends on expeditions up and down the river.

His other great love was for his children with whom he spent nearly every weekend on the river in a cabin he built for that purpose. With them, he showed them the outdoor life: fishing, swimming, hunting, boating and riding horses through the woods — an opportunity few children shared. He shared with them his time, his attention and his help — both emotionally and financially.

He will always be remembered for his kindness in mentoring other businessmen and entrepreneurs and his overwhelming love and concern for other creatures. Throughout his life he had a number of pets — cats, dogs and chickens, and fed and protected the wild creatures that lived on his property near Kingston Road.

He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Tommye Lu Foresman Pritchartt.

Survivors include two daughters, Elodie Pritchartt of Natchez and Laura Bolinger and husband, Terry, of Bush, La.; one son, Howard Pritchartt III of Houston, Texas; three grandchildren, Annet Rose Ackerman of Santa Clarita, Calif., William Howard Pritchartt IV of New Orleans and Grafton Elizabeth Pritchartt of Washington, D.C.; two stepsons, Tom Foresman and Ed Foresman; 11 loving dogs; five beautiful cats; and a number of wild deer.

Pallbearers will be Glenn Green, Gary Guido, Brad Fondren, Greg Fondren, Brent Bourland, Glen Foley and Robbie Gardner.

Honorary pallbearers will be Ronnie Cox, Paul Green, Sessions Hootsell, Bob Polk, Lucius Butts, Bernard Wood and Bill Slatter.

Online condolences may be sent to www.lairdfh.com.