Miss-Lou Military Museum to close by end of June

By Roscoe Barnes III
The Natchez Democrat
Published 12:38 pm Thursday, May 29, 2025

The Miss-Lou Military Museum, the brainchild of the late Mark LaFrancis, will close by the end of June. (Roscoe Barnes/The Natchez Democrat) Click on image to enlarge.

NATCHEZ—The Miss-Lou Military Museum and Veterans Welcome/Information Center will close its doors around the end of June, according to Larry Smith, president of the Home with Heroes Foundation Inc., the organization that operates the museum.
 
Smith said the decision to close the museum was prompted by funding issues. In short, he said, the museum simply does not have the funds to cover its rent.
 
Smith also announced that he and his wife, Jackie, will soon be moving to Arizona to be closer to their family. The couple moved to Natchez about four years ago, and since then, they have been active volunteers on various community committees.

“Having served in the U.S. Army for almost three decades and lived all over the world and across the United States, Natchez will always be home in our hearts,” said Larry Smith. “Its people, its history, and its charming eccentricities are truly unmatched. God is good, and we pray that one day we might return.”
 
U.S. Army Special Forces veteran Robert Foley is the new president of the Home with Heroes Foundation, and Gabi Crousillac, retired Army National Guard Major, is the new vice president. On June 1, Crousillac will replace Jackie Smith as the executive director. 
 
The museum, a nonprofit organization with 501 (c) (3) status, was the brainchild of G. Mark LaFrancis, former president of the Home with Heroes Foundation. LaFrancis passed in June 2024 following a long battle with cancer.
 
The museum first opened in 2018 at the VFW Post 9573 building at 318 Sgt. Prentiss Drive. The VFW provided a room for the museum on its second floor. However, on Nov. 12, 2023, the museum celebrated its grand opening at its current location at 107 Jefferson Davis Blvd. 
 
LaFrancis said the museum’s aim was to educate the public about the contributions of men and women in the U.S. military by giving local residents and visitors immersive, interactive, memorable, and visually stimulating experiences.

 
Those experiences were made possible by the use of military artifacts, GI Joe figures, well-designed ship and aircraft models, uniforms of different military branches, and photos. LaFrancis said the museum could be seen as a tangible way to recognize all branches of the U.S. military, dating back to World War I.
 
According to Smith, over the past few months, the museum staff has searched for a more cost-effective building to call home. Unfortunately, they were not successful in their search.
 
Smith said that between now and its closing, all of the museum’s collections and artifacts will be returned to their owners. Unclaimed items will be offered to military museums in Mississippi and Louisiana.  

For information on the museum’s closing and having items returned, call 253-970-2090.
 
Read more at: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2025/05/29/miss-lou-military-museum-to-close-by-end-of-june/