James "Tracy" Lawson's Obituary
James Tracy Lawson, age 53, passed away on December 25, 2025 at his home.
Tracy was born on August 14, 1972 in Bloomfield, Iowa, the son of James (Jim) and Donna (Taylor) Lawson. He attended schools at Moulton-Udell High School and graduated with the class of 1991. On June 14, 2002 he married the love of his life, Stacy Ruark, and together they raised 3 children, Dalton, Kenny & Baby (a four-legged daughter).
Tracy grew up with farming in his blood and farmed for most of his life. Tracy started farming at a young age working on the family farm including The Taylor's, from there he spent many years working for Dennis Harris Farms. Tracy farmed for a big operation in Allerton, IA which took him to Gallatin, MO to farm for McBee Farms & Cattle. Tracy then took a job closer to home where he found a new family and job that he truly loved, driving a mixer truck for J&J Ready Mix.
Tracy was all about family & friends and loved to spend time with them. He loved working on anything broken with his boys. He was always in the shop tinkering on something, whether that was in his shop or with The Morris Crew at the J&J Ready Mix shop. Tracy was always a call away from anyone that needed help or advice. You wouldn't catch Tracy without his bibs, pliers and a can of chew, he would be the first person to jump in to help someone fix something. Possibly one of Tracy's favorite weeks of the year was the Appanoose County Fair. He spent many hours leading up to the fair running different equipment to prepare the fairgrounds alongside the other fairboard members. He truly found lifelong friendships with the fairboard members. When he wasn't working or at the fairgrounds, he spent his spare time with his family and had a special love for his 2 grandsons. Sunday dinners were a tradition growing up for Tracy, he passed that down to his boys and insisted that we continued that tradition. Sunday evenings were always spent with his family at Sunday dinner with Tracy at the head of the table. Tracy's favorite job was to cut the dessert or scoop the ice cream to savor his sweet tooth.
Those left heartbroken are the love of his life, his wife Stacy; their two sons, Dalton (Jenna) & Kenny (Jocelyn); two grandsons, Case & Oaklen; his mother, Donna; a sister, Kathy (Randy) Burdett; and a brother Rick (Gina); his mother-in-law, Linda Ruark; a sister-in-law, Tasha (Robert) Henderson; his nephew, Jamie (Elizabeth Ruth) Burdett; his niece, Jenny Burdett; two nephews, Eric (Christine) Lawson & Adam (Lacey Jo) Lawson; his niece, Katelyn (Tony) Rydstrom; two nephews, Dayton & Hunter Henderson; and two nieces Khloe & Addy Henderson.
He is preceded in death by his paternal & maternal grandparents, his father, James (Jim) Lawson. His father-in-law, Raymond Ruark and brother-in-law Kenny Smothers. And his four-legged daughter, Baby. And many aunts & uncles.
Per wishes cremation has been accorded. Visitation with family present will take place on Friday, January 2, 2026 from 1:00PM-3:00PM & Service at 3:00PM at Thomas Funeral Home in Centerville, Iowa. Memorials may be made to the Lawson Family and can be mailed to Thomas Funeral Home, ATTN: Tracy Lawson Family, 501 North 18th Street, Centerville, Iowa 52544. Condolences may be shared online at https://www.thomasfh.com or https://www.facebook.com/thomasfuneralhome .
To view the livestream for Tracy's service, please click the link below or visit: https://my.gather.app/remember/james-tracy-lawson
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