Nathaniel Bland

Funeral services for Nathaniel Bland will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, at New Willow Baptist Church with Pastor Ronale Coleman officiating. The burial with full military honors will follow in the Central Louisiana Veterans Cemetery under the direction of Jeane's Funeral Service. A visitation will be held at the church on Wednesday from 9:00 a.m. until the time of service.
Nathaniel was born August 23, 1946, in Tunica, Mississippi and passed away November 30, 2023, in DeRidder, Louisiana at the age of 77. Nate (a.k.a. "Fatso") was the fifth youngest of 16 children. He left Tunica at the age of 24 to enlist in the U.S. Army. He served in Ft. Benning, GA; Augsburg, Germany; Nürnberg, Germany; Kaiserslautern, Germany; Ft. Sill, OK; Ft. Polk, LA, and Ft. Drum, NY. He retired at Ft. Polk, LA with 24 years of service, and lived in Leesville for the rest of his life.
Nate loved life. He enjoyed fishing, beer, barbecuing, and the blues. The casinos and lottery ticket vendors also knew him all too well. Always jovial and thoroughly extroverted, he enjoyed spending time with family and old friends while constantly and consistently making new friends. He was a generous man and believed in the best in people. When someone was in need, if he could help he absolutely would help. Raised with deep southern Baptist traditions, he later found a new spiritual home and church family at New Willow Baptist Church.
He was preceded in death by his parents, J.C. Bland & Nellie Williams Bland, and siblings, Isom Bland, Joe Nathan Bland, Harriett Bland Ellis, Thomas Bland, Benjamin Bland, Rosetta Bland Harris, Nellie Bland, Cassell Bland, Annie Mae Wilson, John C. Bland Jr., Howard Bland, and Jerlene Hoover.
Those left to cherish his memory are his wife, Louella Bland;
children, Joseph Nathan (Shannon) Bland of Falls Church, VA; Brittney Kaye Bland of Ft. Worth, TX; Rhonda Williams of Memphis, TN; and Nathan Lamar Bland of Tunica, MS;
grandchildren, Shiloh Kathleen Bland, Jove Nathan August Bland, Alima Lily Cham, Melvin Williams Jr., Andranette Debose, Lachad Jackson, Malcolm Lipson, and Darrius Lipson;
siblings, Leon (Jackie) Bland of Jackson, MS and Alice (Henry) Wilson of Chicago, IL;
and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family members, and friends.