Harry R. Plotner Jr., 84 of Brookhaven, MS, died December 6, 2022, at Diversicare in Tylertown, MS.

He was born on January 12, 1938, to Augusta C. and Harry R. Plotner in Lakewood, Ohio.

Visitation will be on Saturday, December 10, 2022, at Hartman Jones funeral home from 9:00 AM until services at 10:00 AM. Burial will follow in Felder’s Campground Cemetery.

Harry grew up in Bay Village, Ohio and was the youngest of two children. In high school, he played baseball and football. He graduated from Bay Village High School in 1956 then attended Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH. He met the love of his life, a country girl from Clyde, Ohio, Carolyn S. (Katie) Mesnard, and after dating for a while they were married on October 11, 1958. To this marriage four children were born, three sons and a daughter.

Harry followed in the footsteps of his father and became a salesman for the Pioneer Company, the same one his father worked for. His first territory was in Florida, and as he advanced up the ranks in the company, he also moved to Pennsylvania and Ohio. Once back in Ohio, he changed companies and became a salesman for the A. B. Dick company. As he climbed the corporate ladder, he would move his family to other states such as Georgia, Mississippi, and West Virginia. Once he became Regional Manager, he spent a lot of his time away from his family traveling either by plane or by car, but he always made sure he was home for the weekend to spend quality time with his wife and children. Harry’s family was very important to him.

As his children grew up, they had many family softball games in the backyard with HP — as he was affectionately called by loved ones — usually the pitcher for both teams. He also played softball for his church league. Another activity that he enjoyed doing with the family was camping. At first it was in a tent, which soon became tiresome to do, and so the family moved up to a popup trailer and finally a travel trailer. Camping was a way to go on vacation to some exciting places like Canada and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on a budget. The family has many memories of enjoying camping and fishing on those adventures. As a man of faith, going to church with his family was also important to him, and Harry enjoyed learning from God’s Word and talking about his faith with others.

In 1977 he and Katie moved the family one more time back to McComb, MS, to go into partnership with an old business associate, eventually leading HP and Katie to purchase Magee Printing Company in Brookhaven, MS. During this time Harry was actively involved in his community by becoming a member of the Lions Club as well as the Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce. He and Katie worked side by side to grow what would be known as Magee Graphics into a prosperous, two-location business. In 2003, Harry, along with his wife, left the business world to become retirees.

During his retirement Harry enjoyed working in the yard, doing woodwork, spending time at his grill, and playing lots of golf. HP shared many rounds of golf with his loved ones and friends, and many life lessons were passed down to his sons and grandsons as they tagged along with him and his golfing buddies on the course. He managed to achieve the honor of shooting a Hole-in-One three different times. He and Katie went on various golf trips with friends and enjoyed some traveling, too. Harry was an avid Ohio State fan, and, as he often stated, felt that the Buckeyes were the only team worth watching. HP also enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren and great grandchildren. He would share in his love of woodworking with them by planing wood and building bird houses with the kids. He always encouraged his grandchildren in their academics and other extracurricular activities and was always ready with a smile or an affectionate nickname. To know HP was to love him.

He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 64 years, Katie Plotner; his parents; his in-laws, Harold and Nora Mesnard; one sister, Anna Mae Plotner; three sisters-in-law, Jacaueline Bauer, Patricia Gill, and Roberta Berie; and one brother-in-law, Harold Mesnard.

Harry is survived by his daughter, Wendy S. O’Hern of McComb; three sons, Harry R. Plotner III (Lori) of Brookhaven, Douglas L. Plotner (Chin-Zen) of La Plata, Maryland, and Ryan (Kristi) Plotner of Madison; five grandchildren, Jay O’Hern (Crystal), Jason O’Hern (Kayla), Reagan Plotner, Reed Plotner, and Lindsey Plotner; and four great-grandchildren, Emily O’Hern, Callie O’Hern, Natalie O’Hern, and Riley O’Hern.

The family would like to thank the staff of Diversicare of Tylertown and Hospice Compassus for their loving care of HP.

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