Obituaries from April 2008

Franklyn Shavalia (04/30/08)
Franklyn Daniel "Frank" Shavalia, 70, of Rector, died Tuesday, April 22, 2008. He was born Feb. 11, 1938, to the late Arnold E. and Delores (Huesman) Shavalia. He was a veteran of the Marines and the Arkansas National Guard. He also was a member of the Blooming Grove Missionary Baptist Church...

Clifford Featherston (04/30/08)
Clifford Featherston, 83, of Marmaduke died Monday, April 21, 2008, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Born July 19, 1924, in Clay County to the late John and Myrtle (Hubble) Featherston, he was a farmer and enjoyed showing horses and working with bird dogs...

Alma Moore (04/30/08)
Alma L. Moore, 102, of Piggott, died Monday April 28, 2008, in the Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center in Kennett. She was born February 16, 1906, in Fredricktown, Mo., and was the daughter of the late Greenville and Elizabeth Hector Duckworth...

Chalmers Lorance (04/22/08)
Chalmers Lorance, 97, a native of Rector, died Feb. 14, 2008, of a stroke. He was born Dec. 15, 1910, in Rector, the ninth child of George Lewis and Rebecca Cordella Lorance. He was preceded in death by his wife, Esther, in 1984 and by a daughter, Betty Jane Harrison, in 1973. He practiced pharmacy for 60 years...

Kathy Ann Tilmon (04/22/08)
Kathy Ann Tilmon, 46, of Greenway and formerly of Braggadocio, Mo., died Wednesday, April 16, 2008, at the Twin Rivers Regional Medical Center at Kennett. She was born June 9, 1961, in Hayti, the daughter of Jack Lawhorn and Delores Moyers Gray. She married John Tilmon June 25, 1995, in Braggadocio...

Robert Donald "Bob" Cranford (04/22/08)
Longtime Rector community leader Robert Donald "Bob" Cranford, 83, died Tuesday, April 15, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. Cranford was a faithful member of the Rector community for 61 years, serving on the Rector School Board, the Rector Housing Authority from its conception and 20 years with the Rector Volunteer Fire Department...

Frederick Liddell (Freddie) Jones (04/14/08)
Frederick Liddell (Freddie) Jones, 56, of Paragould, formerly of Rector, died Thursday, April 10, 2008, at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis. He was born Feb. 29, 1952, in Kennett, Mo. He was preceded in death by his father and his mothers, Liddell Jones, Mercede (Melrose) Jones and Amelia (Melrose) Jones...

Erna Lou Easton (04/14/08)
Erna Lou Easton, 80, of Paragould died Saturday, April 12, 2008, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. She was a member of the Blue Cross General Baptist Church and was a nurse for 33 years at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center...

Betty Marie Cate (04/14/08)
Betty Marie Cate, 74, of Corning, died Wednesday, April 9, 2008, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Born Oct. 5, 1933, in Palatka, Ark., to the late Johnnie Poyner and Nora (Collins) Poyner, she was a homemaker, a 50-year member of Hickoria Missionary Baptist Church and a current member of Grace Missionary Baptist Church in Corning, where she was a Bible Scholar and Sunday School teacher. ...

Kim Alan Farmer (04/14/08)
Kim Alan Farmer, 43, of Marmaduke died Saturday, April 12, 2008, at his home. He was born Nov. 19, 1964, to Bobby and Frances (Crouch) Farmer in St. Louis. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and did taxidermy in his spare time...

Robert D. "Bob" Cranford (04/14/08)
Robert D. "Bob" Cranford, 83, of Rector died Tuesday, April 15, 2008, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. He came to Rector from Bald Knob, where he grew up, and worked for a time at Irby Funeral Home. He later went to work at the Bank of Rector, from which he retired a few years ago...

Geraldine "Gerrie" Coats Runft (04/09/08)
Geraldine "Gerrie" Coats Runft, 84, of Dickson, Tenn., formerly of Springville, Tenn., died Thursday, April 3, 2008, at her home. Born May 23, 1923, in Rector to the late Lidge and Hazel Frets Coats, she was a member of the Walnut Street Church of Christ in Dickson. ...

Louise Barker Merrill (04/09/08)
Louise Barker Merrill, 87, of Albuquerque, N.M., formerly of Rector, died Saturday, April 5, 2008, in Albuquerque. Born Dec. 26, 1920, in Rector, she had worked as a church bookkeeper. She was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Carrie (Arment) Barker; her husband, Paul Merrill, and one son, James Merrill...

Dr. Donald Jones (04/09/08)
Dr. Donald Jones, 68, of Rector died Monday, April 7, 2008, at his home. Dr. Jones was born Sept. 26, 1939, to the late John Donald and Vera (Williams) Jones. He was preceded in death by his wife, Denise G.M. Jones...

Willie Walker Pratt (04/02/08)
Willie Walker Pratt, 82, of Rector died Thursday, March 27, 2008, in Kennett, Mo. Born Oct. 15, 1925, in Cardwell, Mo., to the late W.W. Pratt and Katie Shatley Pratt, he was a carpenter and had lived all his life in this area. He was of the Pentecostal faith...

Maxine Elizabeth Maynard (04/02/08)
Maxine Elizabeth Maynard of Little Rock, a native of Clay County, died Sunday, March 30, 2008. She was born Oct. 15, 1913, in Piggott to the late B.P. and Mable Atkison. She was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, the Rev. C.S. Maynard, and six brothers and two sisters...

Donald Franklin Armstrong (04/02/08)
Donald Franklin Armstrong, 55, of Little Rock, brother of Rev. Roger Armstrong of Rector, died Friday, March 7, 2008. He was a retired elder in the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church. Born Feb. 11, 1953, in Rolla, Mo., he was the third son of Lyle and Elizabeth Armstrong. He grew up in Little Rock and attended Winfield United Methodist Church, where he first felt the call to ministry at age seven. He was licensed to preach in 1973 and gave his first sermon at Winfield...

Leonard R. Settlemire (04/02/08)
Leonard R. Settlemire, 48, of Rector died Thursday, March 27, 2008, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. Born July 13, 1959, in Kennett, Mo., to Georgie Pauline Settlemire and the late Cecil Settlemire, he was a farmer, a lifelong member of the community and of the General Baptist faith...