Obituaries from March 2009

Irene Ober (03/26/09)
Irene P. Ober died March 18, 2009, at Sterling House-Briargate. Irene was a resident of Colorado Springs, Colo., since 1993. Before retirement she had been an office manager for the Postal Inspection Service. Irene Plahm was born Oct. 1, 1917, to William and Caroline (Weis) Plahm in Worth Ill. She married Wendell Ober Nov. 30, 1946...

Richard Marchese Jr. (03/26/09)
Richard Marchese Jr., 61, of Beebe, Ark., died March 13, 2009, at the Veterans Hospital in Little Rock, Ark. He was born March 13, 1947, in Ohio. He was the son of Ross and Bernetta Carlton Marchese. He was retired from the U.S. Army having served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He also had worked for Entergy of Arkansas. He was a lifetime member of the DAV and a member of the Union Valley Baptist Church in Beebe...

Margaret Blevins (03/26/09)
Margaret Louise Baker Blevins, of Violet Hill, Ark., daughter of the late Alfred Baker and Latha Yarberry Baker, was born March 3, 1934, in Tuckerman, Ark. She died March 18, 2009, in Batesville, Ark., at the age of 75 years. She was united in marriage to Wilson Blevins on Nov. 24, 1954. To this union three sons were born...

Betty Gregory (03/26/09)
Betty Berniece Gregory, 80, of Horseshoe Bend, Ark., daughter of the late John Arthur and Bessie Mae (Hunter) Gentry, was born on May 14, 1928, in Alma, Ark. She died on March 16, 2009, at her home in Horseshoe Bend, Ark. Betty was united in marriage to Truman Gregory on Feb. 16, 1943, at Fort Smith, Ark. She spent her working years as a cook and waitress. She was a member of the Horseshoe Bend First Baptist Church...

Arthur Wayne Hickman (03/26/09)
Arthur Wayne Hickman, 56, of New Orleans, La., died March 18, 2009, in a New Orleans hospital. He was born Oct. 22, 1952, in Jena, La., the son of Elmer Hickman Jr. and Ruth M. (Coley) McClary. Survivors include: his mother, Ruth M. McClary of Indianapolis, Ind.; two sons, Kenneth Wayne Marks and David Allen Marks both of Indianapolis, Ind.; one brother, Eddie D. ...

Elenor Winifred Bray (03/26/09)
Elenor Winifred Bray, 82, of Mountain Home, Ark., daughter of the late Luther Milton Davis and Jessie Mae Jullian Davis, was born June 27, 1926, in Oxford, Ark. She died March 12, 2009, at Good Samaritan Village in Mountain Home. She was married to Goldman Bray on March 12, 1942, in Salem, Ark. For many years she was owner/operator of Winnie Gay Dress Shop in Mountain Home. She was a member of the Church of Christ and attended services at West Road in Mountain Home...

Freeda Jenkins (03/19/09)
Freeda B. Jenkins, 82, of Cherokee Village, Ark., died March 11, 2009, at Fulton County Hospital in Salem, Ark. She is survived by: her husband Robert Jenkins of the home; sons, Jerry Lewis of Poplar Bluff, Mo., and Mark Lewis of Texas; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren...

Nick Mullins (03/19/09)
Nicholas "Nick" Ryan Mullins, 23, of Williford, Ark., died March 7, 2009, at Northeast Arkansas Hospital in Jonesboro, Ark. He was the son of Lonnie Mullins of Williford and Judy Shirley. He is survived by: his parents; his sister, Krystal Hale of Lake City, Ark.; brothers, Shannon Mullins of Jonesboro, Ark., and Joe Lazaratto of Williford; and paternal grandmother, Loyce Mullins of Newport, Ark...

Barbara Ann Miller (03/19/09)
Barbara Ann Miller, 67, of Cave City, Ark., died March 7, 2009, at the White River Medical Center in Batesville, Ark. She was born April 8, 1941, at Broken Bow, Okla., the daughter of Vernon Haskell and Delia Ann Bearden Harris. She was a homemaker and of the Baptist faith...

Leslie Grimes (03/19/09)
Leslie Grimes, 64, of Dowagiac, Mich., died Feb. 28, 2009, at his residence. He is survived by: two daughters, Leslie Clouse of Decatur, Mich., and Mary Williamson of Dowagiac, Mich; one sister, Linda Mahaffey of Martin Creek; his father Jess Grimes of Hardy; 17 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren...

Sharon Lee Wheeler Stevens (03/19/09)
Sharon Lee Wheeler Stevens, 52, of Merrium Woods Village, Mo., died March 8, 2009, in Missouri. She was born July 6, 1956, in East St. Louis, Ill., the daughter of Thomas and Eva Wheeler. She attended school at Hardy and Highland, Ark., through the 11th grade...

Joe "Butch" Finney (03/19/09)
Joe "Butch" Finney, 61, of Mammoth Spring, Ark., died March 12, 2009, at his home. He was born Aug. 27, 1947, at Walnut Ridge, Ark., the son of Joe Alexander and Pearl Carolyn Bandy Finney. He was a U.S. Air Force Veteran having served in Vietnam. He was a brick layer, a member of the Brick Layer and Allied Craftsman of Indiana/Kentucky Local 4, a member of the American Legion Post 336 in Hardy. He was a member of the First Baptist Church in Mammoth Spring...

Mattie Kay Brinkley (03/19/09)
Mattie Kay Brinkley, 56, of Batesville, Ark., died March 8, 2009, at her home. She was born June 12, 1952, at Batesville, Ark., the daughter of Gary Jerome and Josie Marie (Clifft) Woods. She was a member of the Eastside Southern Baptist Church in Cave City...

Burnell Clair Crone (03/12/09)
Burnell Clair Crone, 63, of Cherokee Village, Ark., died at his home after a long illness. He was born April 18, 1945, and raised in Dover, Pa. of parents, William and Mildred Hughes Crone along with a brother, Larry, and sisters, Carole and Theda. He attended Evangel College in Springfield, Mo., and Millersville State College, Millersville, Pa...

Russell Lester Fisher (03/12/09)
Graveside services for Russell Lester Fisher, 87, of West Plains, Mo., were held March 6, 2009, at the Baker Cemetery near Hardy, Ark., under the direction of the Robertson-Drago Funeral Home of West Plains, Mo. He died March 3, 2009, in Ozarks Medical Center in West Plains, Mo. He was born July 23, 1921, in Hermann, Mo., the son of Theodore Alfred and Elizabeth Speckhaus Fisher...

Bill Johnston (03/12/09)
Bill Johnston, 72, of Evening Shade, Ark., died March 1, 2008, at the Cave City Nursing Home. He was born Oct. 16, 1936, in Missouri, the son of Amel and Lucinda Grissom Johnston. He was a United States Army veteran having served in the Korean conflict. He was of the Baptist faith...

Earmond Green (03/12/09)
Earmond "Smokey" Green, 81, of Cave City, Ark., died Feb. 28, 2009, at the Cave City Nursing Home. Funeral services were held March 3 at the Qualls Funeral Home Chapel in Cave City. Burial followed in the Cave City Cemetery. Arrangements were made under the direction of the Qualls Funeral Home of Cave City...

William E. Shaffer (03/12/09)
William E. Shaffer, 85, died Feb. 9, 2009. Bill resided in Williford, Ark., and was a winter resident of the Villages in Florida. He was born in Tunnelton, W Va. His parents were the late James and Mary Shaffer, Brownsville, Pa. He served in the Army Air Corps in WWII and was a retired engineer from the Public Service Commission in Albany, NY...

Bonnie Jean Young (03/05/09)
Bonnie Jean Young, of Salem, Ark., daughter of the late Ira Zackery and Goldie Patterson Zackery Ford, was born Aug. 30, 1925, in Monette, Ark. She died Feb. 25, 2009, at the Fulton County Hospital in Salem at the age of 83. She was united in marriage to Bill Young Jr. Oct. 12, 1940, in Lake City, Ark...

Nelda Colley (03/05/09)
Nelda Faye Colley, 71, of Hardy, Ark., died Feb. 24, 2009, in Springfield, Mo. Nelda worked in church administration, the Church women's ministry and was the treasurer for church building fund. She is survived by: her husband, Freeman Colley; daughter, Linda Coffman of Garland, Texas; step-daughter, Rebecca Lawson of Euless, Texas; son, Philip Loughmiller of Huntsville, Ala., step-son, James Colley of Abilene, Texas; sister Winifred Anderson of Saddle, Ark.; 10 grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.. ...

Ned C. Johnson (03/05/09)
Ned C. Johnson was born March 25, 1921, the son of the late James Edward Johnson and Lola Mae Wheeler Johnson in Alton, Mo. He died Feb. 22, 2009, at Sara Ann Hester Memorial Home in Benkelman, Neb., at the age of 87. He was united in marriage Sept. 9, 1944, in Hardy, Ark., to Bertha Leona Prewitt...