Louis Edward Stallings
Louis Edward (Sousa) Stallings departed this life on July 1, 2022, surrounded by family and caregivers at his home in Big Spring, Texas. Louis was born at the family home in Lomax on November 3, 1931, delivered by pioneer Doctor G. T. Hall. He started school at age five and skipped a grade because “he was so smart.” He attended the one-room Lomax Community school, and later Stanton High School, where he excelled at all sports. He graduated at 16 and attended McMurray College and then Howard County Junior College, where he played basketball, baseball and quarterback on the only football team HCJC ever had. He later transferred to North Texas State University and graduated at the age of 20.
Louis met Luan Creighton at the annual Lomax Community Fourth of July Celebration in 1946. They were married at the First Baptist Church of Big Spring on December 22, 1951, and recently celebrated their 70th anniversary. After graduation from North Texas, he was enlisted into the Army and was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, until his honorable discharge as a Sergeant in 1954. Louis and Luan made their home in Big Spring where he began a long career in the life insurance business. The illness of their oldest child (Dian) caused the family to relocate to Dallas in 1964 to be near specialists, who were treating the 10-year-old for what we now know as anorexia. In 1969, Louis accepted a position in San Antonio with Farm Bureau Insurance Company as agent for Wilson and Atascosa Counties. In 1973, he transferred to Brownfield, Texas, as agent for Terry and later Bailey Counties. The following year he was promoted to District Sales Manager for West Texas and relocated back to Big Spring.
In 1977, Louis purchased the Patterson Insurance Agency in Big Spring. In 1981 he sold the agency and, for the remainder of his career, was an independent life insurance broker working with other agents and representing several large insurers. He won many awards for his achievements in the industry including being a member of the Million Dollar Roundtable, but his greatest satisfaction