Obituaries from December 2005

Alla Jean Berry Sharp (12/06/05)
Alla Jean Berry Sharp, 69, of Evening Shade died Nov. 29, 2005, at White River Medical Center in Batesville. She was born Feb. 9, 1936, the daughter of the late Arthur "A.D." Berry, and Cecil Taylor Berry. She was a homemaker and a member of Bear Creek United Methodist Church...

Alpha Wilma Rogers French (12/06/05)
Alpha Wilma Rogers French, 94, of Hardy died Nov. 30, 2005 ,at Fulton County Hospital in Salem. She was a homemaker. She was the daughter of the late John Rogers and the late Kate Davis Rogers. She is survived by one daughter, Barbara Jean Evans of Hardy; three sons, Billy Joe French of Cherokee Village, Kenneth French of Agnos and Max French of Cave City...

Gretchen Marie Fees (12/06/05)
Gretchen Marie Fees, 78, of Cherokee Village died Nov. 23, 2005, at her residence. She was born Dec. 11, 1926, in Polk County, Iowa, the daughter of Fred Gabbert and Nellie Kile Gabbert. She married Cecil Fees on May 9, 1944, in Des Moines, Iowa, and he preceded her in death on Nov. 3, 2005...

James Celige Dickson (12/06/05)
James Celige Dickson, 52, of Cherokee Village died Nov. 24, 2005, at his residence in Highland. He was the son of the late William Dickson. He was employed by Dixie Restaurant. Survivors include his mother, Louise Dickson; maternal grandmother, Dora Webb; two sisters, Connie Taylor of Highland and Betty Wardlow of Aurora, Ill.; two brothers, William Dickson of Cherokee Village and Thomas Dickson of Auora, Ill...

John Inge Risvold (12/06/05)
John Inge Risvold, 85, of Horseshoe Bend died Dec. 1, 2005, at the North Arkansas Life Care Center in Horseshoe Bend. He was born April 3, 1920, in Wausau, Wis., the son of Magnus and Bertha Madland Risvold. He moved to Chicago, Ill., where he received his schooling...

Jack Martin Fletcher (12/06/05)
Jack Martin Fletcher, 48, of Hardy died Dec. 1, 2005, at White River Medical Center in Batesville. He was a self-employed photographer and Realtor. After high school he served in the U.S. Navy and was a member of the Professional Photographers of America...

Jeanette Murphy (12/06/05)
Jeanette Murphy, 66, of Ash Flat died Dec. 1, 2005, in Little Rock. Murphy was born June 15, 1939, in Noblesville, Ind., the daughter of Floyd and Edith (Gibbs) Gerber. She was a member of First Baptist Church in Ash Flat. She was a homemaker. Survivors include her husband, Dean Murphy, of the home in Ash Flat; one daughter, Deb Gatliff of Fishers, Ind.; three brothers, Joe Gerber of Indianapolis, Ind., Jay Gerber of Florida and James Gerber of Lapel, Ind.; two sisters, Juanita Nosler and Janice Wills, both of Noblesville, Ind.; one granddaughter; a host of other relatives and friends.. ...

June Shaver Koorstad (12/06/05)
June Shaver Koorstad, 94, of Hardy was born in Nelsonville (Sharp County) on May 2, 1911, the daughter of Ed and Hassie Shaver, and died Nov. 30, 2005. She was a Christian and long-time member of the Hardy Church of Christ. She worked as a librarian and an Avon representative. She was a member of Timely Club of Hardy and the Sharp County Historical Society where she contributed to books about the history of Hardy and one-room schools in Sharp County...

Mary Pauline Roper (12/06/05)
Mary Pauline Roper, 77, of Ash Flat died Nov. 22, 2005, at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home. Roper was born Sept. 7, 1928, in Leachville, Ark., the daughter of the late Rye Exter Lyerly and Nannie Priscilla Cromwell Lyerly. She married Claude David Roper on March 15, 1951, in Paragould, Ark. ...

Raymond J. King (12/06/05)
Raymond J. King, 73, of Cave City died Nov. 30, 2005, at a Little Rock hospital. He was born March 27, 1932, at Cave City to Russell D. and Ester Leona West King. He had worked for Boeing Corporation in Wichita, Kan., and the Sharp County Road Department and was a member of Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church at Nelsonville...

Elsie Louise Wilson (12/13/05)
Elsie Louise Wilson, 89, of Cherokee Village died Dec. 8, 2005. She was born Dec. 26, 1915, in St. Louis, Mo., daughter of Wilhelmina and Reinhold Seibold. She was sister to five brothers, Reinhold, Charles, William, Edwin and Robert; and mother of Marian Henderson, Linda Racette and William Henley; grandmother of four; great-grandmother of five; and wife of David L. Wilson...

John Fielding Manuel (12/13/05)
John Fielding Manuel, 49, of Cave City died in Tucson, Ariz., on Dec. 1. He was born March 15, 1956, at Paragould, Ark., to Thomas O. and Gracie Grimes Manuel. He was a truck driver and a painter. He was a member of the Pentecostal faith. Survivors include his mother, Grace Grimes Kankelfitz of Cave City; one son, John F. ...

Maurice L. Hardin (12/13/05)
Maurice L. Hardin, 88, of Jonesboro, Ark., died Dec. 4, 2005, at Ridgecrest Health and Rehab. Born in Hardy, he was a member of the 447th Bomb Wing Flight crew in World War II that flew missions over Europe. He was a member of the Nettleton Church of Christ...

Osie Marie Duke (12/13/05)
Osie Marie Duke, 93, of Sidney died Dec. 6, 2005, at Sharp Nursing Home in Sidney. She was born Oct. 12, 1912, in Stuttgart, Ark. She was the daughter of John Bailey and Della Murphy Bailey. She was a homemaker and a member of Evening Shade First Baptist Church. She was an avid gardener and enjoyed canning food, cooking and quilting...

Paul Franklin Morphis (12/13/05)
Paul Franklin Morphis of Horseshoe Bend, son of the late Ottis Egbert Morphis and Lessie Leola Yancey Morphis, was born Nov. 12, 1933, in Searcy County, Ark. He died Dec. 4, 2005, at Southwestern Regional Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla., at the age of 72...

Thomas Edwin Jeffery (12/13/05)
Thomas Edwin "Win" Jeffery of Horseshoe Bend, son of the late Thomas Mason Jeffery and Ada Wiles Jeffery, was born Aug. 20, 1915, in Mount Olive, Ark. He died Dec. 4, 2005, at his home in Horseshoe Bend at the age of 90. He was married to Mary Elizabeth Hopkins Oct. 1, 1967, in Mammoth Spring. During his working years he was the superintendent of golf courses in Horseshoe Bend...

Zachery Heath Watkins (12/13/05)
Zachery Heath Watkins, 23, of Conway, Ark., and formerly of Cave City died Dec. 3, 2005, at North Little Rock, Ark. He was born Aug. 12, 1982, at Batesville, Ark., to Boyce and Becky Marlin Watkins. He was a student at UCA and a member of the Antioch Church of Christ...

Doris H. Schaffert (12/15/05)
Doris H. Schaffert, 93, of Cherokee Village died Dec. 4, 2005, at the Fulton County Hospital in Salem. She was born on March 4, 1912, in Texarkana, Ark. She married William Charles Schaffert Sr. in LaGrange, Ill., in 1934. The Schafferts moved to Cherokee Village in 1971...

Irene Glenn (12/15/05)
Irene V. Glenn, 95, of Cave City died Dec. 8, 2005, at White River Medical Center in Batesville. She was born May 1, 1910, at Cherry Valley. She was a member of the Church of Christ in Fisher. Survivors include two sons, Burl Glenn of Cave City, and Gerald Glenn of Wynne; nine grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; two great-great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; and a host of other relatives and friends...

A.L. Hoaney (12/20/05)
A.L. Hoaney, 71, of Judsonia, formerly of Evening Shade died Dec. 15, 2005, at the White County Medical Center in Searcy. He was born Aug. 4, 1934, at Evening Shade to Columbus Shelby and Bunis Rogers Hoaney. He was a United States Army veteran, retired as the president and CEO of the Bank of Evening Shade after 43 years of service, and was a member of the United Meth-odist Church of Evening Shade...

Becky Beller (12/20/05)
Becky Beller, Highland School District's gifted and talented education coordinator, died Dec. 17, 2005, in a Little Rock hospital. She was 58. Beller taught up until the day before her untimely death. Beller, of Ash Flat, organized Highland's academic teams for interscholastic competition, including quiz bowl, chess and mock trial. Her highly successful teams consistently brought home championship trophies...

Charles Alvy Woten (12/20/05)
Charles Alvy Woten, 75, died Dec. 11, 2005, at his residence in Coal City, Ind. He was born in Sharp County on Nov. 28, 1930, the son of Arlonso Franklin and Lillie Fay Shupp Woten. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War and worked for many years as a truck driver...

Clarice E. Lanham (12/20/05)
Clarice Elizabeth Lanham, 93, of Ash Flat died Dec. 14, 2005, at Eaglecrest Nursing and Rehab in Ash Flat. Lanham was a secretary and of the Presbyterian faith. She is survived by her sister, Doratha Lanham Ellis of Cherokee Village; two nieces, Mary Ellis and Patricia Peltier; and one nephew, Michael Ellis...

Marion C. Henry (12/20/05)
Marion C. Henry, 92, of Horseshoe Bend died Dec. 17, 2005, at the Izard County Medical Center at Calico Rock. She was born Dec. 14, 1913, in Chicago, Ill., the daughter of William and Mary McKenna Collins. During her working years she worked for the U.S. government as a savings bond processor. She was a member of the St. Mary of the Mount Catholic Church of Horseshoe end. She was a past member of the Lions Auxiliary, Little Theater, and NARRF...

Steven Jeff Montgomery (12/20/05)
Steven Jeff Montgomery of Horseshoe Bend, son of Bonita Walker Montgomery and the late James Arthur Montgomery, was born July 24, 1960, in Salem. He died Dec. 13, 2005, at Mountain Home, Ark., at the age of 45 years. He was married to Lisa Sullivan on March 20, 1987, at Hardy...

Augusta M. Lafollett (12/27/05)
Augusta Marie LaFollett, 81, of Horseshoe Bend died Dec. 19, 2005, in Cherokee Village. She was born Oct. 31, 1924, in Peoria, Ill., the daughter of Fred and Lena Gerzema. She moved to Horseshoe Bend with her husband in 1979 from Edwards, Ill. She worked as a volunteer at the North Arkansas Life Care Center in Horseshoe Bend for many years. She was a member of the Franklin Baptist Church...

Anne C. Heath (12/27/05)
Anne C. Heath, 86, of Columbia, S.C., died Dec. 15, 2005. She was preceded in death by her husband, Marvin S. Heath, in 1995. A mass was held Dec. 29, 2005, at St. Joseph Catholic Church. Burial was in the Hardy Cemetery at Hardy. Memorials may be made to St. Joseph Catholic Church. Dumbar Funeral Home assisted the family at the Devine Street Chapel in Columbia, S.C...

Doris Cory (12/27/05)
Doris Cory, 97, of Batesville died Dec. 18, 2005, in Batesville. She was born Oct. 7, 1908, in Sandwich, Ill., the daughter of Osman Anfinsen and Esther Nelson Anfinsen. She was a homemaker and a member of First United Methodist Church of Batesville. She taught typing and shorthand and was a secretary. She moved to Arkansas in 1949...

Gene A. Thompson (12/27/05)
Gene Author Thompson, 73, of Grand Prairie, Texas, formerly of Hardy, died Dec. 17, 2005, in Grand Prairie. He was employed as a school teacher. Survivors include a daughter, Tracey Fortsch of Grand Prairie, Texas; three brothers, Marvin Thompson of West Memphis, Audrey Thompson of Ozark Acres, and Owen Buford Thompson of Cordova, Tenn.; one sister, Nima Dailey of Hardy; and three grandchildren...

J.T. Orr (12/27/05)
J.T. Orr, 83, of Ash Flat died Dec 20, 2005, at the Fulton County Hospital in Salem. Orr was born Jan. 26, 1922, in Ash Flat, the son of John Orr and Sophia Hotchkiss Orr. He attended Ash Flat High School until he was drafted into the United States Army during World War II. He was a POW and was a recipient of the Purple Heart...

Jewell A. Ball (12/27/05)
Jewell Annis Ball of Oxford, daughter of the late Earnest Stroud and Edna Sherrell Stroud, was born March 9, 1913, in Wideman. She died Dec. 22, 2005, at Pioneer Nursing Home in Melbourne at the age of 92 years. She was married to Willie W. Ball in 1936 at Newark. She was a homemaker and a member of the Baptist Church...

Joann F. Ryan (12/27/05)
Joann "Joni" Frances Ryan, 65, of Cherokee Village died Dec. 15, 2005, at her residence. She was born June 18, 1940, in Hammond, Ind., the daughter of Leo J. Ryan and Frances Virden Ryan. She was educated in the Hammond, Ind., area. Her education culminated in her earning a PhD in mathematics from Purdue University in the mid 1960s. Joni was briefly engaged in environmental research after which she devoted her life to caring for her widowed mother and her beloved aunt...

Phyllis M. Larson (12/27/05)
Phyllis M. Larson, 79, of Horseshoe Bend died Dec. 19, 2005, at the Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home, Ark. She was born Dec. 23, 1925, in Chicago, Ill., the daughter of Henry and Anna Mueller. She married Carlyle Larson March 5, 1974, in Chicago. She was co-owner of Condiment Food Services during her working years...

Vona N. Reeves (12/27/05)
Vona Nell Stuart Reeves, beloved wife of the late David Joseph Reeves, was born on a farm in Polk County, Iowa, Dec. 10, 1920, and died Dec. 17, 2005, at her home. She married David Joseph Reeves July 16, 1938. He preceded her in death May 24, 1975. Reeves moved to Cherokee Village to be close to her father in November 1975...