Aug. 28, 1963 – Oct. 10, 2018

WOODVILLE — Services for lawyer and judicial candidate Alonzo Holmes Sturgeon III, 55, who died Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, at Ochsner Hospital in New Orleans, will be 2 p.m. today at Corinth Church of Christ in Woodville.
Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery under the direction of Newman Funeral Home in Centreville.
Mr. Sturgeon was born Aug. 28, 1963, the son of Alonzo Sturgeon and Betty Sturgeon.
Sturgeon graduated as valedictorian of his class at Wilkinson County Christian Academy in 1981, where he also set several state records in track. He then attended the University of Southern Mississippi where he continued to run track and pledged Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He graduated with a double major in English and biology. He then obtained a law degree from the University of Mississippi and joined the family’s practice in Woodville.
Sturgeon loved his community and dedicated his time and effort to improving Woodville. His passion for his home town was so great that he ran for prosecutor in his late 20s and held the position for nearly 30 years until his death. He was an active member in the local Masonic Lodge Asylum No. 15 and a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association. Ever a man to put community over political affiliation, Sturgeon was an elected Democrat as county prosecutor and an elected Republican as the vice chairman of the Wilkinson County Republican Committee. Additionally, he served as president of the Adams County Bar Association and was a member of the Wilkinson County Bar Association and the Mississippi Prosecutor’s Association.
As a passionate student of history, Sturgeon was an activist in the Natchez and Woodville historical societies, a board member of the Mississippi Historical Society, a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and served as Governor General of the First Families of Mississippi. As a fan of 19thcentury architecture, Sturgeon was the proud restorationist of the Cohen House and Oaklawn (also known as the Lewis House) in Woodville.
In addition to his local philanthropic and political activism, Sturgeon was also a dedicated church member and family man. He was a lifelong member of the Corinth Church of Christ, a loving husband to Jeretta Sturgeon and a supportive father to Walker Sturgeon and Alonzo Holmes “Lonnie” Sturgeon IV.
In his personal time, Sturgeon enjoyed lengthy non-fiction books, classic films and cultivating his camellia garden. He also enjoyed a hearty political debate and was well known for his sense of humor and interest in family genealogy — his own and everyone else’s. Family and friends will remember him as a man with an unexpendable supply of knowledge and advice, a great propensity for empathy and compassion and an unrelenting dedication to his community and family. The very embodiment of the true southern gentleman, he will be greatly missed.
Sturgeon was preceded in death by his father.
Survivors include his wife and two sons.