Individual Details

Death

It wasn’t unusual for Dewey O. Furr Jr. to toil long evenings at the downtown Shreveport construction company his father started in 1935. That ice sometimes caused his family to fret. But the wiry, hardworking Furr, 59, described by his son as “very trusting” of others, dismissed of keeping a gun. “In fact, the last time I was here to visit, we talked over that idea for the thousandth time,” recalls David Furr, 31, of New Orleans. “But he decided the best thing was to just give up his money ... that pocket change was not worth dying over.” Police say Dewey Furr was robbed and killed after two black men walked into his 718 Edwards St. business around 10:25 p.m. Sunday. Furr, whose wallet was reportedly taken, was shot once in the neck. Police said Monday they were still looking for the two suspects. No arrests had been made in the case. Dewey Furr was a lifelong Shreveporter who began full time in his father’s business in 1951, a young man in his 20s. His prime income came as a homebuilder, though he also made cabinets. “The best way to describe my father is he was a perfectionist. He did not believe in doing shabby work,” says David Furr. “He tried to provide a quality product for a reasonable price. He would often refinish the whole work if the customer was unsatisfied . . . It (cabinet-making) went hand-in-hand with the basic construction skills. It was just one of the many things he learned working with my grandfather.” Dewey Furr graduated from Byrd High School and in 1950 from LSU-Baton Rouge, where he earned a business degree. As a businessman he often helped teenagers with job. "Over the last 10 years, I can't count the number of 18- or 19-year-olds he would find in a coffee shop, and before you knew it, they would be working for him. It might not be for long, but he was willing to help.” Dewey Furr was outgoing in other ways. “He used to do quite a lot of bowling. But in later years what he really enjoyed was teaching kids how to bowl, including some of my childhood friends,” says David. His father had competed in bowling leagues until his business absorbed more and more time. “Business had been down the last few years, but it was just starting to pick up again.” The business remained at 718 Edwards through the years. Dewey Furr maintained an office there with an adjacent garage. “The garage was where he did all the cabinet work and basically stored all his materials,” says his son. David says his father liked being around people. Police say a friend of Dewey Furr's was in the business at the time of Sunday’s shooting but managed to flee uninjured. “I never saw him without somebody with him,” David says. “He was also a very trusting individual.”
The Times, Shreveport, Louisiana, September 5, 1985