A service celebrating the life of Louie Vaughn (Buz) Sumrall will be held at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, March 29, 2025 in the Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel.

Louie Vaughn (Buz) Sumrall, age 71, Lawton, Oklahoma, died Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at his residence.  He was born in Lawton, Oklahoma on July 14, 1953 to Louie Vaughn and Leonelle (Bailey) Sumrall.

A lifelong Lawtonian, Buz attended Washington Elementary, Central Junior High School, and Lawton High School, from which he graduated in 1971. While at Lawton High he lettered in tennis and remained a tennis enthusiast for many years thereafter. He was also active in summer baseball through American Legion. Throughout his youth he attended Trinity Baptist Church.

Following his graduation from high school he attended Cameron University, graduating in 1976 with a B.S. in Business and his state certification to teach in Oklahoma.

For most of his adult life he managed and maintained his family's real estate and rental properties in Lawton. This provided him the schedule freedom to pursue his greatest passion, umpiring. He became a baseball umpire in his twenties. This avocation would last forty-five years. Eventually, he umpired games for high school and college baseball, high school and college women's softball, and men's slo-pitch softball. He was honored for his work with assignments to umpire the OSSAA State Women's Softball Championship and the Oklahoma Coaches Association All-State Baseball Game.

Buz maintained many other interests throughout his life. Some of these include playing golf and men's slo-pitch softball, bowling, traveling with friends to watch baseball and high school football, keeping track of his beloved New York Yankees, and managing an unsuccessful lottery consortium for his friends. He was an avid OU supporter, especially of football and women's softball. He also worked the game clock at every basketball game played at Great Plains Coliseum and Lawton High School in recent memory.

Above all, Buz enjoyed engaging with friends in whatever activity was planned. Those friends will greatly miss his presence.

Buz is survived by his sister, Bette Le Newton and a niece, Wendy Newton, both of Ardmore, Oklahoma.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Lawton Public Schools Athletics, P.O. Box 1009, Lawton, Oklahoma 73502-1009.