Obituaries

Allie Eugene Parrish (04/01/04)
Allie Eugene Parrish, 64, of Rector died Saturday, March 27, 2004, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. A farmer, he was born May 11, 1939, in Greene County to the late Ovel and Annie (Clayton) Parrish. He was married Sept. 27, 1958, to Dorothy Sue Cavaness Parrish...

Mary Maglene Banks (04/01/04)
Mary Maglene Banks, 76, of Rector died Sunday, March 28, 2004, at Rector Healthcare. A homemaker, she was born Dec. 20, 1927, in Friendship, Mo., to the late John Alfred and Rosie Lemmons. She was of the Pentecostal faith. She also was preceded in death by her husband, J.E. ...

Thelma Gertrude Layer (04/01/04)
Thelma Gertrude Layer, 89, of Corning Health Care, a native of the Rector area, died Sunday, March 28, 2004, at Corning Health Care. She was born Sept. 11, 1914, in the Leonard community near Rector to the late Richard Owens and Lela (Glass) Owens. She was a homemaker and a member of Salem Missionary Baptist Church...

Daphne Joyce Bullington (04/01/04)
Daphne Joyce Bullington, 75, of Corning, died Friday, March 26, 2004, at her home. She was born Feb. 25, 1929, in Delaplaine to the late Harry Augusta Fairchild and Mazie Mae (Davis) Fairchild. She was a homemaker, a gardener and had been a member of the Knobel Church of Christ since 1945...

Luda Layne (04/01/04)
Luda Layne, 90, of Doniphan, Mo., died Saturday, March 27, 2004, at Current River Nursing Home in Doniphan. She was born May 24, 1913, in Van Buren County, Ark., to the late John Emery and Della Bradley. She was a homemaker. She also was preceded in death by her husband, Clyde Leo Layne, and a son-in-law, William Edward Wooldridge...

Willie Ray James (04/09/04)
Willie Ray James, 84, of Gosnell died Thursday, March 18, 2004, at his home. He was born Nov. 18, 1919, in Kennett, to the late Aaron Moses and Marganie Limbaugh James. He was married to Seena James, who preceded him in death, and later married Patsy Ann James...

Bettie Jane Dudley (04/09/04)
Bettie Jane Dudley, 71, of Piggott died March 29, 2004, at her residence surrounded by her loving family. She was born June 21, 1932, in Leonard, the daughter of Onnie and Mary Hill Cooper. She worked as a bookkeeper at Piggott Mortuary-Irby Funeral Home and a lifelong member of the community...

Clifford "Pa" Hoyt Barnhart (04/09/04)
Clifford "Pa" Hoyt Barnhart, 91, of Marmaduke, died Sunday April 4, 2004, at Greene Acres Nursing Home in Paragould. He was born Aug. 26, 1912, in Greene County to the late Lilburn Barnhart and Lena (Smith) Barnhart. He was retired from the Greene County Road Department after 31 years of service, was a newspaper deliverer in Marmaduke for the Paragould Daily Press and a Marmaduke city employee. He was a lifelong member of the community and a member of Marmaduke General Baptist Church...

Ralph Earl Crain Sr. (04/09/04)
Ralph Earl Crain Sr., 61, of Jonesboro died Monday, April 5, 2004, in his home. He was born Jan. 6, 1941 in Ravenden Springs, son of Cletus and Mary Crain. A U.S. Navy veteran of the Vietnam War, he was a tool and die maker with World Color until retirement...

Rev. Leonard Bunch (04/09/04)
Rev. Leonard Bunch, 74, of Black Oak, died Sunday, April 4, at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Memphis. He was born in Black Oak, but lived in Jonesboro most of his life. He also lived in Piggott before moving back to Black Oak four years ago...

Bertha Lee Wilder (04/09/04)
Bertha Lee Wilder, 72, of McDougal died Tuesday morning March 30, 2004, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. She was born in Gunterville, Ala., and moved to McDougal two months ago. She was a retired sectionizer with Ben Hill Griffin and was of the Baptist faith...

Gary Gilkison (04/15/04)
Gary Gilkison, 50, of Paragould died Thursday, April 8, 2004, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born on Sept. 25, 1953, the son of Jerry Gilkison and Nellie Deweese. He was united in marriage to Karon Cheshire on April 12, 1975...

Brandon Lee Chilcutt (04/15/04)
Brandon Lee Chilcutt, infant son of Jimmy Lee and Angel Christine Chilcutt of Piggott, died Saturday, April 10, 2004 at Piggott Community Hospital. He was born on March 25, 2004. Funeral services will be held at Hoggard and Sons Funeral Home. Arrangements are pending...

Billy Ray Robertson (04/15/04)
Billy Ray Robertson, 76, of Raymoor, Mo., formerly of the Simmons Chapel community, died Tuesday, March 16, 2004, in Raymoor. He was preceded in death by his parents, Nannie (Vowell) and W.W. Robertson of Rector; five brothers, Tilrey, Oren, Deward, Harold and Doyle Robertson, and two sisters, Syveda Wayland and Wilma Becker...

Ara Sara Sparks (04/15/04)
Ara Sara Sparks, 92, of Rector died Thursday, March 25, 2004, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. She was born Feb. 15, 1912, in Hugo, Okla., to the late John and Willie Ann Robinson. She was a housewife, mother and a member of the First General Baptist Church of Rector...

Roy Jessie Wilcoxson (04/15/04)
Roy Jessie Wilcoxson, 83, of Lafe, died Wednesday, April 7, 2004, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. He was born April 8, 1920, in Lexington, Ala., to the late William Jessie Wilcoxson and Viola (Michael) Wilcoxson. He was an auto mechanic and attended Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church...

Retired Master Sgt. James M. Winn (04/15/04)
Retired Master Sgt. James M. Winn, 83, of Lawton, Okla., died Saturday, March 27, 2004, in Lawton. He was born April 24, 1920, in Paragould to the late Albert and Addie Bolen Winn. He graduated from Alexander High School in Paragould. He married Jean Rodgers on April 1, 1943, in Kennett...

Euba Bessie Maloney Wofford (04/15/04)
Euba Bessie Maloney Wofford, 88, of Jonesboro, formerly of Paragould, died Monday, April 5, 2004, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. She was born Nov. 13, 1915, in Greene County to the late Lola Maloney Arnold and Walter Maloney. She was retired from the Paragould Home for the Golden Years as a nurse's aide and formerly operated a restaurant in Marmaduke. She was a member of the Second and Walnut Church of Christ...

Beverly Jean (Cossey) Easton (04/22/04)
Beverly Jean (Cossey) Easton, age 52, of Fayetteville, a native of Rector, died Feb. 2, 2004, in the Washington Regional Medical Center at Fayetteville after a long and courageous battle with cancer. She was born Feb. 26, 1951, in Rector to Lola Grace Cossey and the late Bobby Gene Cossey. She grew up in the Rector area and was a 1969 graduate of Rector High School, where she was the 1969 Homecoming Queen...

Clovis R. Shultz (04/22/04)
Clovis R. Shultz, 84, of Rector died Sunday, April 18, 2004, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. He was born March 3, 1920, in Rosalie, Ala., to the late Joe and Olier Shultz. He joined the Air Force, serving during World War II as an aircraft mechanic on basic trainers. While serving at Walnut Ridge Air Base, he met his future wife, Demetra Elsass. They would have been married 60 years in July...

Billie (Bill) E. Shelton Sr. (04/22/04)
Billie (Bill) E. Shelton Sr., 60, of Cherokee Village, a native of Rector, died Friday, April 16, 2004, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born May 17, 1943, in Rector to Burl and Erma (Guthrie) Shelton of Paragould and was married July 6, 1963, to Rita (Morris) Shelton...

Evelyn Payne (04/22/04)
Evelyn Payne, 89, of Columbia, Ill., died Wednesday, April 14, 2004, at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, Ill. She was born May 26, 1914, in Monette. Mrs. Payne was a homemaker and a member of the First Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff. She had formerly been a member at the Fagus General Baptist Church before moving to Poplar Bluff. She also was a member of the Poplar Bluff Garden Club. She enjoyed gardening, needlework and reading the Bible...

Claudean Bolen (04/22/04)
Claudean Bolen, 82, of McDougal, died Sunday, April 18, 2004, in Hardy. She was born Nov. 1, 1921, in Murphysboro, Ill., the daughter of the late Arlie Lee and Elvira Elizabeth Jane Coffer Herring. She was united in marriage to Silas Robert Bolen on Jan. 21, 1939...

Gary Gilkison (04/22/04)
Gary Gilkison, 50, of Paragould died Thursday, April 8, 2004, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He was born on Sept. 25, 1953, the son of Jerry Gilkison and Nellie Deweese. He was united in marriage to Karon Cheshire on April 12, 1975...

Roy Jessie Wilcoxson (04/22/04)
Roy Jessie Wilcoxson, 83, of Lafe, died Wednesday, April 7, 2004, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. He was born April 8, 1920, in Lexington, Ala., to the late William Jessie Wilcoxson and Viola (Michael) Wilcoxson. He was an auto mechanic and attended Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church...

Brandon Lee Chilcutt (04/22/04)
Brandon Lee Chilcutt of Piggott died Saturday, April 10, 2004, at the Piggott Community Hospital. He was born March 25, 2004, in Paragould, the son of Jimmy Lee and Angel Frederick Chilcutt. He is survived by his father and mother; grandmother, Katy Chilcutt of Piggott; great-grandmother, Catherine Risinger of Piggott; and other relatives and friends...