William H. Kerstetter II of Caledonia, MS died Thursday, July 28, 2022, at Baptist Memorial Hospital – Golden Triangle. He was 65 and died of complications from ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

Visitation is scheduled for 5 – 7 p.m. Monday, August 1, at Lowndes Funeral Home, located at 1131 North Lehmberg Road in Columbus.  The funeral service will begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, August 2, at New Salem Baptist Church, 7086 Wolf Road in Caledonia, with Bro. Mel Howton officiating. Mr. Kerstetter will be buried at Woodlawn Cemetery in Steens.

Mr. Kerstetter was associated with Columbus Rubber & Gasket on Highway 69 for 46 years: he was hired in 1976 at the age of 19 and by the early 2000s had assumed ownership of the company. He opened Mid-South Machine & Hydraulics on Highway 45 in 2010. He learned both businesses from the ground up and trained all of his employees the same way.

The truth is, very few called him Mr. Kerstetter.  He was Billy K to friends and customers throughout the South.  Invariably, when he traveled – whether to Disney World, the mountains, or out West on one of his many hunting trips – he ran into friends.  People he didn't know weren't strangers long.  For Billy K, "connecting the dots"  and finding common ground with others was as natural as breathing. He loved driving country roads and meeting people, and was an incomparable salesman.

Billy K. was born September 6, 1956, in Wichita Falls, TX, to the late William H. "Bill" Kerstetter and Carolyn Walb Kerstetter of Columbus.  He was a 1974 graduate of S.D.Lee High School in Columbus and attended Northeast Mississippi Junior College in Scooba.

He is survived by his bride of 44 years , Janis Gray Kerstetter; son,  William "Hal" (Lindsay) Kerstetter, III; daughter, Sally Marie Kerstetter; and grandchildren Isabella Vaughn Kerstetter and Sophie Gray Kerstetter.  Other survivors include two brothers,  Don (Jackie) Kerstetter and Randy (Nobuko) Kunes;  three sisters, Cindy Kerstetter Moreno, Debbie Kerstetter Bernardo, and Sandy (Hugh) Hutchison; and a host of nieces and nephews.

Memorials may be made to Gideon's International, PO Box 2174, Columbus, MS 39704, or to Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka, KS 66675.