Obituary for Larry Wayne Seab
Mr. Seab died on Saturday night, August 6th, passing in his sleep comforted and surrounded by his devoted wife of 48 years Dorothy (Dotti) Tauscher Seab, sister-in-law Linda Tauscher Seab, son Todd Groves, and granddaughter Jessica Seab Haynes.
Survivors include his wife Dotti, son Scott and wife Laurie, son Todd Groves and wife Melanie Massey Groves, their daughters Ellie Sue and Gabbi, granddaughter Jessica and husband Daniel, sister Patricia Moore, her children Dorothy, Kathy, Marlene, and Steve, and great grandsons Tucker and Tristen Huddleston.
He was preceded in death by his parents Clyde and Sue Seab of Roxie, Mississippi, brothers Kenneth and Murray Seab, son Larry (Bubba) W. Seab, Junior, and grandson Larry (Trey) Seab, III.
Mr. Seab graduated from Tallulah high school in 1956, and moved to Monroe with sister Pat to attend Northeast Louisiana University, where he also joined the Army ROTC. In addition, he worked part-time as a clerk at the accounting firm Savage, Moore & Miles.
While in college he also attended the First Baptist church in Monroe, where he met and married the late Ann Janet Humphries in 1958 and had two sons, Larry Junior in 1959 and Scott in 1965. After graduating with his accounting degree in 1960, he served two years as an accounting and inventory officer in the Army at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland as well as in Philadelphia, leaving as a Captain with his return to Monroe in 1963. He took the Louisiana CPA exam, and made the highest grade in the state.
His first professional civilian job was that of the purchasing agent for Northeast Louisiana University, at only 25 years of age. He was the youngest purchasing agent in any college in the country at the time.
After three years he left that position and joined the accounting firm of Frank & Hoover, (headed by his Accounting Professor when he was a student at NLU) in 1971 which did accounting for a small phone company. He later joined Monroe-based phone company CTE, now CenturyLink / Lumen, as VP of Finance from 1972-1979. While working on one of the many acquisitions of other phone companies for CTE, he met his wife Dotti in La Crosse, Wisconsin and dragged her to Monroe, marrying in 1973.
Seeing a need for competition to AT&T in the long distance calling market, he created the country’s first budget-minded long distance phone company, Long Distance Savers (LDS), in 1981 while also founding his telephone accounting firm, Communications Consultants, Inc. He later served as VP of Finance of Fail Telecommunications, Inc., a consortium of rural telephone companies. Part of that venture included frequent trips to Budapest, Hungary in the early 90s, to advise that country on privatizing its telephone system.
Those experiences paved the way to his next business, in Jackson, Mississippi, where he founded the nation’s first prepaid local phone service provider, NOW Communications, Inc., in February 1996. Also informally known as the Seab Family Full Employment Company, it grew from zero to nearly 50,000 customers in the Southeast region, eventually relocating to Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Part-time business ventures included TJ Cinnamons Bakery (gourmet cinnamon roll franchises), Cucos Mexican Restaurant, Budgetel Inns, Lenny’s Sub Shop, catfish farming, and helping with his wife’s very successful maternity clothing boutiques, Pickles & Ice Cream and Spoiled Rotten.
After selling NOW and Pickles in 2003, he and Dotti attempted retirement and moved to Winter Garden, Florida from 2004 to 2013, then returning to West Monroe. While there, he served as CFO of several time share companies and Dotti became a Realtor in the residential market.
For the past 10 years, he was the chief financial officer working with his longtime friends in Monroe, Wayne and Kathy Williamson of Williamson Consulting Group.
He and Dotti attended Cedar Crest Baptist Church in West Monroe.
Visitation will be Saturday, August 13th, from 10am to 1pm at Griffin Funeral Home in West Monroe.
Admired by everyone who knew him, he was a warm and generous man, wonderful husband and father, with a ready smile for everyone he met.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to St. Jude and/or the Ouachita Parish Animal Shelter.
Survivors include his wife Dotti, son Scott and wife Laurie, son Todd Groves and wife Melanie Massey Groves, their daughters Ellie Sue and Gabbi, granddaughter Jessica and husband Daniel, sister Patricia Moore, her children Dorothy, Kathy, Marlene, and Steve, and great grandsons Tucker and Tristen Huddleston.
He was preceded in death by his parents Clyde and Sue Seab of Roxie, Mississippi, brothers Kenneth and Murray Seab, son Larry (Bubba) W. Seab, Junior, and grandson Larry (Trey) Seab, III.
Mr. Seab graduated from Tallulah high school in 1956, and moved to Monroe with sister Pat to attend Northeast Louisiana University, where he also joined the Army ROTC. In addition, he worked part-time as a clerk at the accounting firm Savage, Moore & Miles.
While in college he also attended the First Baptist church in Monroe, where he met and married the late Ann Janet Humphries in 1958 and had two sons, Larry Junior in 1959 and Scott in 1965. After graduating with his accounting degree in 1960, he served two years as an accounting and inventory officer in the Army at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland as well as in Philadelphia, leaving as a Captain with his return to Monroe in 1963. He took the Louisiana CPA exam, and made the highest grade in the state.
His first professional civilian job was that of the purchasing agent for Northeast Louisiana University, at only 25 years of age. He was the youngest purchasing agent in any college in the country at the time.
After three years he left that position and joined the accounting firm of Frank & Hoover, (headed by his Accounting Professor when he was a student at NLU) in 1971 which did accounting for a small phone company. He later joined Monroe-based phone company CTE, now CenturyLink / Lumen, as VP of Finance from 1972-1979. While working on one of the many acquisitions of other phone companies for CTE, he met his wife Dotti in La Crosse, Wisconsin and dragged her to Monroe, marrying in 1973.
Seeing a need for competition to AT&T in the long distance calling market, he created the country’s first budget-minded long distance phone company, Long Distance Savers (LDS), in 1981 while also founding his telephone accounting firm, Communications Consultants, Inc. He later served as VP of Finance of Fail Telecommunications, Inc., a consortium of rural telephone companies. Part of that venture included frequent trips to Budapest, Hungary in the early 90s, to advise that country on privatizing its telephone system.
Those experiences paved the way to his next business, in Jackson, Mississippi, where he founded the nation’s first prepaid local phone service provider, NOW Communications, Inc., in February 1996. Also informally known as the Seab Family Full Employment Company, it grew from zero to nearly 50,000 customers in the Southeast region, eventually relocating to Lawrenceville, Georgia.
Part-time business ventures included TJ Cinnamons Bakery (gourmet cinnamon roll franchises), Cucos Mexican Restaurant, Budgetel Inns, Lenny’s Sub Shop, catfish farming, and helping with his wife’s very successful maternity clothing boutiques, Pickles & Ice Cream and Spoiled Rotten.
After selling NOW and Pickles in 2003, he and Dotti attempted retirement and moved to Winter Garden, Florida from 2004 to 2013, then returning to West Monroe. While there, he served as CFO of several time share companies and Dotti became a Realtor in the residential market.
For the past 10 years, he was the chief financial officer working with his longtime friends in Monroe, Wayne and Kathy Williamson of Williamson Consulting Group.
He and Dotti attended Cedar Crest Baptist Church in West Monroe.
Visitation will be Saturday, August 13th, from 10am to 1pm at Griffin Funeral Home in West Monroe.
Admired by everyone who knew him, he was a warm and generous man, wonderful husband and father, with a ready smile for everyone he met.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donations to St. Jude and/or the Ouachita Parish Animal Shelter.