John Leslie Brumfield, Jr., 91 of Summit, passed away Monday, February 12, 2024 at his residence. Visitation will be held on Saturday, February 17, 2024 from 12:00 pm until 1:00 pm at Johnston Chapel United Methodist Church in Summit. Funeral services will follow at 1:00 pm at the church. Burial will follow in Johnston Chapel United Methodist Church Cemetery. Rev. Dwayne Scoggins will officiate.

To hear Les Brumfield talk about nature, you'd think God made the forest, the hills, and the creeks for our delight. They were his solace. The breeze rustling the treetops, the chattering of crows, and the brook gurgling beside him as he walked his beloved woods of Tangipahoa Parish.

During the Great Depression, those woods fed him and his family with game, fish, and berries, which he and his siblings harvested to help the family get by. After 91 years on God's lush Earth, Les rose into the heavens on Monday, February 12, 2024, to thank the creator in person, though Les had done it already for much of his life as a writer.

Creation was Les' poetry, and he was its poet, using the written word to paint its picture like an Impressionist master, tapping out nature's splendor in newspaper articles for major newspapers in the South, mostly for what is now The Times-Picayune in New Orleans.

Les had a favorite month, October. Every year, he reveled in the turning leaves, the deepening blue of the sky, and making crisp breezes that drove out the sweltering heat of the Louisiana summer. "Every year he wrote something about October," his wife Shirley Brumfield said.

He helped people in Tangipahoa connect with nature in his columns Along the Creek in the Kentwood News Ledger or Still Country in the Hammond Daily Star. He also left us a thoughtful novel, The Summer of the Black Cats.

But, mainly, Les used the might of the pen, ethically and responsibly, to hold politicians and other people wielding power to account for over 30 years. That was his actual job, in the service of us all. His own childhood had impressed the frailty of human beings upon him and drove him to help keep them from falling off the cart.

He graduated from Baton Rouge High School and joined the United States Navy. Later he went to LSU on the G.I. Bill, where he was the Sports Editor for the school newspaper, The Reville.

Though his career took him to Memphis, Jackson, and New Orleans, his heart never left Tangipahoa, where he later spent many years in retirement. He also loved the woods of Pike County, MS, home to his beloved wife Shirley. Their marriage was an enviable 55-year love affair. The only thing Les loved more than nature was his family.

Les was born on August 13, 1932, in his family home in Bolivar, LA. He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Shirley McDaniel Brumfield, of Summit; one Son, John Benjamin Brumfield, of Decatur, Georgia; and a Number of Nieces, Nephews, Brothers-in-law, Sisters-in-law, and other family members. He was preceded in death by his Father, John Leslie Brumfield, Sr.; his Mother, Lela Grace Brumfield; one Brother; and three Sisters. Les passed away in his home in Summit around bedtime with many loved ones in his home, including Shirley.

Sharkey Funeral Home in Summit is in charge of the arrangements. Friends may sign an online guest register book at www.sharkeyfuneralhome.com.