Gary Blair

The Panola County, MS, community lost one of its biggest personalities with the passing of Gary Steven Blair on Sept. 4, 2025. He was 74. Gary was surrounded by his wife and children and in his home when he went to glory, undoubtedly carrying his big love for fellowship and conversation with him.

A celebration of Gary’s life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Monday, September 8, 2025 at the First Baptist Church in Batesville with the interment to follow at Forrest Memorial Park. The family will receive friends beginning at 10:00 a.m. prior to the service.

Gary was born on June 16, 1951, to I.O. and Dovie Perkins Blair in Batesville.

Gary and his wife, Janice, founded Batesville Tooling and Design, Inc. In time, despite much adversity, the business flourished. Gary consistently attributed the company’s success to God’s grace and to the company’s commitment to sticking to Biblical principles. At present, the company serves customers worldwide, primarily in building and repairing plastic injection molds needed by automotive, medical, and other sectors of industry, as well as medical instruments and devices. Gary’s God-given design and math abilities caused him to be sought out by engineers worldwide for challenging design projects.

Gary saw no separation between secular and sacred, and believed that all was done for the glory of His Savior. Gary was active in many ministries. He served as a deacon and longtime Sunday School teacher at First Baptist Church, Batesville, MS. Gary and his wife taught 5th grade Sunday School for more than 35 years, impacting hundreds of children with their unique and engaging style. One former class member, Reid Bensch, now a dentist, explained Gary’s impact this way: “I remember he would always say, ‘We’re going to pray now. If you don’t have anything you want to tell God you can at least tell Him—Thank you Lord for loving me!’ I still often think of that and tell the Lord ‘thank you for loving me!’”

Gary has been committed to Kairos prison ministry since 2005 and is beloved by many believers who are incarcerated in the Miss. State Penitentiary at Parchman. Because of his confidence in God’s Word, Gary was also an on-fire Gideon who loved purchasing and giving out Bibles, worldwide. He was a music leader with Celebrate Recovery, which meets on Monday nights at 6:30 p.m. at FBC Batesville. Gary will also be long remembered as the man who led the team that designed and built the large aluminum crown of thorns that sit atop the cross at the intersection of I-55 and Hwy. 6 in Batesville.

Gary loved his Lord, his wife and family, the people in his community and his church. Gary liked riding his Harley, watching little-league baseball, raising koi in his picturesque water feature complete with stunning waterfall, talking about numbers, talking in general, and finding reasons to operate his Mahindra tractor. He greatly disliked English peas and any religious system that stresses conformity to a manmade system rather than God’s Word.

Gary is survived by his beloved wife, Janice. They experienced their 55th wedding anniversary last month in the hospital where Gary was being treated for a recurrence of cancer. He is also survived by one daughter Jennifer Howell (John) of Batesville, who carries on his legacy of children’s ministry; and by two sons, Jeff Blair (Angie), and Dan Blair (Rachel). His sons are carrying forward his legacy at Batesville Tooling and Design.

Gary is also survived by 11 grandchildren: Hunt Howell (Mary Lynn), Nelson Howell (Grace), Blair Howell, Josh Blair (Samantha), Jake Blair (Reba), Saylor Gee, Hunter Gee (Meagan), Collins Blair, Reed Blair, Rosie Blair, and Allie Blair. He is also survived by three great-grandchildren, Ryker Gee, Sophia Blair and Oliver Blair. Gary is survived by one sister, Beverly Hill of Mt Juliet, TN, and by numerous nieces and nephews.

For anyone led to make an offering to the Lord’s work in memory of Gary, the family asks that memorials be made to the Gideon’s International or the Batesville, MS, First Baptist Church children’s ministry.