Carl "Eddie" Stotts

Carl E. "Eddie" Stotts, 78, of Paoli, Indiana, passed away on October 14, 2026, at home.

He was born on January 23, 1948, in Paoli, Indiana, to Gilbert E. Stotts and Florene Grimes Stotts.

His parents were killed in car accidents a year apart, and his grandparents raised him from the time he was about four years old.

He was a truck driver most of his life — even while going through chemo. He fought a hard four-year battle with cancer.

He collected guns, knives, and brass — and any gift from the family was most likely never used, because it was too nice or too pretty to use.

To his only child, Teresa, he was teacher, protector, and encourager all in one. He always encouraged her to do and be her best. He taught her his tools — how to grease trucks and tractors, check the oil, and pump gas — and taught her to drive a stick shift. And every morning before school, he braided her long hair, fixed her eggs for an egg sandwich, and drove her to school himself, because the diesel fumes from the bus made her sick.

He was a disciplinarian, too — if Teresa got in trouble at school, she got in trouble at home, which she calls the "two for one special." Looking back, even that was love: he believed in her too much to let her be less than she could be.

He is survived by his wife, Wilma Kay "Kay" (Richardson) Stotts; his daughter, Teresa Kay Stotts Weinand and her husband Kevin, of Dayton, Ohio; his grandchildren, Kayla Hunter and her husband Mark, and granddog Halen, of Olathe, Kansas, and Lee Weinand and his wife Jenna, of Centerville, Ohio; and his great-grandson, Ezra Lee Weinand, of Centerville, Ohio.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Gilbert E. Stotts and Florene Grimes Stotts; his wife, Kathy Walls Bayless Stotts; and the grandparents who raised him.

Visitation will be held Friday, October 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by the funeral service at 1 p.m., at McAdams Mortuary, Paoli, Indiana. Burial will follow immediately at Paoli Community Cemetery.