Paul Edward Lutz

Paul Edward Lutz - a 100% disabled veteran who loved muscle cars, music, Ebay and his dog - died March 30 at home in Enterprise. He was a private, unassuming extraordinary man.

Born 66 years ago in Plainfield, N.J, Lutz beat the draft by joining the U.S. Navy. He worked in boiler rooms of destroyers affectionately known as "tin cans," then became a flight-simulator repairman, a job that brought him to Meridian Naval Air Station.

Over the years, Lutz's '73 Road Runner rumbled to jobs at Peavey Electronics Corp. and Key Field Air National Guard Base. After work, Lutz fished, fell in and out of love and partied through every rock concert imaginable. He was a Renaissance man of 60s culture, collecting hundreds of albums, CDs, DVDs, stamps, coins, books, games and toys. Lutz built model cars, ships, planes and classic movie monsters. His house was full of countless wonders: antique steamer trunks, a mounted Lynx, a talking deer head, a monk's robe and a tank full of Amazonian fish the size most people fry.

He was a gruff-looking working man with a keen mind, quick wit and tender heart. Lutz shelled pecans for Christmas gifts and carved jack 'o lanterns for Halloween. He wore a Buc-ee's onesie to make a sick friend laugh. Last year he drove a mini-WWII jeep dressed as Lt. Col. "Love the Smell of Napalm" from Apocalypse Now.

Lutz found kindred spirits at the Basic City & Arundel Model Railroad Club and Meridian Railroad Museum. After surviving two brutal bouts of cancer, Lutz became an avid supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and The American Cancer Society in addition to numerous veteran charities.

Lutz died where he was happiest: behind the wheel of a fast car with loud pipes, playing Gran Torino.

What a way to go.

Lutz is survived by sisters, Megan MacDonald and Brenda Gail Buckelew, both of New Jersey. He is preceded in death by his sister, Laura Hasselbrink, and his parents Benjamin and Phyllis Lutz.

Commemorative services with military honors will take place at 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at the Mississippi Veterans Memorial Cemetery.