Joe Lee “Buddy” May, 97, died at home in Naples, Texas, on Wednesday, August 12, 2026.

He was born January 22, 1929, in Omaha, Texas, to J.D. May and Mary Alice Ellis May, and he graduated from Sanderson High School in 1948. Two years later, on December 23, 1950, he married Joan Moore. The marriage lasted seventy-five years.

He was drafted into the United States Army and saw combat in Korea with L Company, 3rd Battalion, 179th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division — the Thunderbirds. He came home to Naples and to the house he and Joan had bought in 1953, and he never lived anywhere else again.

For the whole of his working life he was a Lone Star Steel man, running the locomotives on the company’s plant railroad. His faith kept the same steady hours. At Daniel’s Chapel he served as a deacon and sang in the men’s chorus, and when the congregation needed an altar, he built it himself.

He was devoted to his family, and a good deal of that devotion took the shape of furniture. He was an avid woodworker, and what came out of his shop went to his children, grandchildren, and friends.

Buddy fished, hunted, and camped his whole life. He and Joan spent many a night in their RV working their way across the Southwestern United States, coming back again and again to Sanderson, the town he always considered home, and to the Big Bend country around it. Nearer home, the two of them were regulars on the East Texas lakes.

Retirement widened his circle rather than narrowing it. He kept close friends and spent much of those years in their company, vacationing with them in groups, running around with them, laughing. He never met a stranger, and any neighbor or church member who needed a hand got one.

He was preceded in death by his parents, J.D. and Mary Alice May; his sister, Marjorie Ann May Hill; his brother-in-law, Homer Hill; and his son-in-law, Joe Thompson.

He is survived by his wife of seventy-five years, Joan Moore May of Naples; his son, Joe Dan May, and wife Carol Jean Phillips May of Dallas; his daughter, Carolyn Jo May Thompson of Redwater; four grandchildren, Christina Gibson and husband Brett Gibson of Waco, Clinton May and wife Hilary May of Greeley, Colorado, Kandice White and husband Chris White of Plano, and Justin Thompson and wife Jessica Thompson of Weatherford; six great-grandchildren, Ellia Gibson, Olive Gibson, Owen Gibson, Tinley White, Cortland White, and Karsyn Davis; and a niece, Linda Hill.

Services will be held Saturday, August 15 at 2:00 pm at Harrison Funeral Home, 500 WL Dodson Blvd. W, Naples, Texas, with Tommy Weems and Joe Perkins officiating. Burial will follow at Omaha Cemetery. Visitation will be Saturday, August 15 at 1:00 pm at Harrison Funeral Home, 500 WL Dodson Blvd. W, Naples, Texas.