Funeral services for Dr. Anton Reel Jr., of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are Thursday, Aug. 10, 2017, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Francis Catholic Church.

Dr. Anton Reel Jr., 98, was born Nov. 4, 1919, in Nuremberg, Germany. He grew up in New York City before receiving an athletic scholarship to Perkinston Junior College. He then attended Louisiana State University and Loyal Dental School. He practiced in general dentistry and oral surgery as a lieutenant junior grade in the U.S. Navy during WWII in Germany. He and his wife, Louise, moved to Brookhaven where he practiced for 42 years.  He won the Mr. New Orleans title in 1944. An avid LSU fan, he recruited for LSU and started the first weightlifting program for the LSU Tigers football team in 1955 with Coach Paul Dietzel. He was later named an honorary coach of the 1958 National Champion LSU Tigers. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 2006, and is the only weightlifter/bodybuilder ever inducted.

Donations can be made to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in lieu of flowers.

Arrangements are by Church Funeral Services & Crematory, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. To leave condolences or to sign a guestbook, visit www.churchfuneralservices.com.