Biographical And Historical Memoirs of Pulaski, Jefferson, Lonoke, Faulkner, Grant, Saline, Perry, Garland And Hot Spring Counties, Arkansas
Katy Veoma Walrond
Katy Veoma Walrond, 87, of Little Rock, went to be with her Lord on July 3, 2005. She was born October 4, 1917 near Pocahontas to the late Samuel Boyd Walrond and Inez Isabelle Poindexter Walrond.
After attending Randolph County public schools, she later served as county clerk in the Randolph County Court House for many years. She moved to Little Rock in 1972, working for the Department of Human Services in the Children's Medical Division until retirement in 1987.
Veoma was a devoted member of Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, active in the Upper Room Sunday School Class, and the United Methodist Women. She also enjoyed membership in the Business and Professional Women's Club, Womens City Club, Arkansas Arts Center and Arkansas State Employees Association.
Survivors include her cousins, Mary Ann Poindexter Rembert and her husband Dr. Franklin C. Rembert of Dallas, Texas.
Visitation will be 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, 2005 at Ruebel Funeral Home. Memorial services will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Friday at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church officiated by Rev. Dr. Jeff Hampton.
The staff and members of the church were very faithful offering encouragement through their visits, cards, calls, and prayers.
Memorials may be sent to Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, 4823 Woodlawn Ave., Little Rock 72205.
Sandra Lee Walker
Sandra Lee Walker, 57, of Little Rock, passed away on July 29, 2005. She was born January 5, 1948, in Little Rock, a daughter of Eddie and Nora Walker.
She was recently retired from American Airlines after 30 years of service. She was a faithful member of Immanuel Baptist Church as well as the church's coordinator of volunteers.
She was preceded in death by her father, Eddie and one sister, Frances Louise Walker.
Survivors include her mother, Nora Walker of Little Rock; sisters, Yvonne Adams and husband Noel of Perryville, and Shirley Walker of North Little Rock; brothers, Bill Walker and wife Mary Lou of Cabot, Jim Walker and wife Paulette, Ed Walker and wife Connie, Russell Walker and wife Marlene, and Kenny Walker, all Little Rock; a host of nieces and nephews, many other relatives, and countless friends.
Visitation will be 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, July 31, 2005 at Ruebel Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, August 1, 2005 at Immanuel Baptist Church officiated by Dr. Rex M. Horne, Jr. Graveside Services will follow at 3:00 p.m. at Mt. Zion Cemetery in Jerusalem, Arkansas.
Pallbearers are Jay Boody, Jeff Irving, Matt Hawkins, Jeff Moran, Gary Lovell, and Mark Henry.
Memorials may be made to the Gideons International, or to Immanuel Baptist Church.
Arrangements are by Ruebel Funeral Home of Little Rock.
Mary Grace Tucker
Mary Grace Tucker, age 11, of Little Rock, died Sunday, July 31, 2005. She was born May 5, 1994, in Little Rock, the daughter of Dr. Stephen and Teena Tucker. Mary Grace attended Pulaski Academy from Kindergarten to the fifth grade. She was an excellent student having straight A's, and a cheerleader at school. Mary Grace loved swimming and was a member of the Laser Swim Team of the Little Rock Athletic Club. She was the State Champion Butterfly swimmer for her age group. Mary loved her family, school, her teachers and her friends.
She is survived by her parents, Dr. Robert Stephen and Teena Marie Robbins Tucker of Little Rock, two brothers Daniel Rush Tucker of Branson, Missouri, John David Tucker of Little Rock, one sister Hanna Robins Tucker of Little Rock, parental grandmother, Mae Anne Tucker of Searcy, maternal grandparents, Mary Lou and Ed Stanley Robbins of Florence, Alabama, one uncle David Songer Tucker of Portland, Oregon, three aunts, Lisa Morris, Eddy Carlton, and Nannette Rogers all of Florence, Alabama, and her Godparents, Bruce and Barbara Gump.
There will be a funeral service Wednesday, August 3rd, at 11:00 AM at Fellowship Bible Church officiated by Reverend Bill Parkinson. Arrangements are under the direction of Ruebel Funeral Home.
Memorials in lieu of flowers should be made to the Laser Swim Team at the Little Rock Athletic Club, Pulaski Academy or Arkansas Pediatric Facility (payable to the Arkansas Child Fund), 4100 Heritage, North Little Rock, AR 72117.
Jackson T. "Jack" Stephens
Jack Stephens was born on August 9, 1923 in Grant County, Ark., the youngest of six children. He died early Saturday afternoon at his Little Rock home. He grew up on a farm near Prattsville during the great Depression. Coming from humble beginnings, the hard times and his parents taught him the values of self-reliance, diligence, integrity and hard work. His father, A.J. Stephens once told his young son, "It's no disgrace to be poor, it's a disgrace to stay poor." His father also advised, "Success is not a destiny to be reached, but the quality of the journey we make."
The advice from his father stayed with him throughout his life. In his younger years Jack Stephens worked on the family farm behind a mule drawn plow and picking cotton. By age 15, he held summer jobs as a bellhop and shoeshine boy at the Barlow Hotel in Hope, Ark. He added the delivery of telegrams to his duties when he realized he could do so after his normal hotel shift was finished.
A bright student, Mr. Stephens attended public schools in Prattsville and graduated high school from Columbia Military Academy in Columbia, Tenn. He attended the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville and graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1946. (Class of '47.) Poor eyesight prevented Mr. Stephens from active duty in the Navy so he took a job offered to him on his graduation day by his brother W.R. "Witt" Stephens. With a simple handshake in his room at Annapolis, Mr. Stephens agreed to join his brother in Little Rock at a municipal bond house.
Witt was outgoing, a natural salesman. Jack was quiet, unassuming and studious. A decade later, in 1956, Jack became an equal partner with his brother and became President and Chief Executive Officer the following year. (1957.) The two brothers acquired the Fort Smith Gas Company and renamed it the Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Company. The pair also acquired an oil and gas exploration firm and named it Stephens Production Company. Both investments proved to be the catalyst for expansion from a municipal bond business to a diversified financial group that became Stephens Inc.
Jack Stephens served as President and CEO of Stephens Inc. from 1957 until 1986 when Stephens Group, Inc. was formed and became the parent company of Stephens Inc. His son, Warren, assumed the leadership of Stephens Inc. at that time. Mr. Stephens became Chairman of Stephens Group, Inc. that year, a title he carried for the remainder of his life.
Over the decades, Mr. Stephens led the company to great heights. Under his leadership, Stephens Inc. invested or assisted in many enterprises including the former Union Life Insurance Company, the former Systematics, Donrey Media (now Stephens Media Group), Dillards, Alltel, Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods and many more. Jack Stephens' leadership and business acumen was responsible for the creation of hundreds of businesses in America and thousands of jobs. Many of those enterprises have become Fortune 500 companies, and a number of them are located in his native Arkansas.
In recent years, Mr. Stephens has been recognized for his philanthropy but it is something he did all his life. He once told a reporter, "There are only two pleasures associated with money, making it and giving it away." For over 20 years Jack Stephens has been the principal benefactor for The Delta Project, a program designed to assist and educate underprivileged children in Arkansas' delta. When he sold the Little Rock cable franchise in 1985, he put the profits into the City Educational Trust Fund. For 20 years the Trust Fund has provided scholarships for students and incentive awards for innovative teachers. His gift of $48 million built the Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute on the campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and financed the purchase of equipment for the institute as well as support programs and research.
The Stephens family has been a life long supporter of the Arkansas Arts Center and Jack Stephens donated a portion of his personal art collection to the Center as a permanent display. The Stephens Gallery currently boasts the works of Degas, Monet, Picasso, Wyeth and more. The Stephens display, valued at $22 million at the time of the gift, has been recognized as one of the most important art collections in the country. It is perhaps the finest art collection in the nation for a city the size of Little Rock. Mr. Stephens was also the lead contributor for the construction of a new 30, 000 square foot wing at the Arkansas Arts Center.
The Episcopal Collegiate School, the campus of which bears his name, occupies 31 acres near downtown Little Rock. The total amount of this gift has never been made public but Mr. Stephens donated the money to purchase the land that comprises the campus. In April 2004, he donated $20 million of the announced $30 million endowment for the school. His son Warren and Warren's wife, Harriet, donated the remainder of the gift. Mr. Stephens also donated $20.4 million for the construction of the Jackson T. Stephens Special Events Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR). The facility will become the home court for the UALR Trojan basketball team.
The list of contributions to his community also includes a $5 million endowment to Harding University, establishment of the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Arkansas, and the Bill and Skeeter Dickey Scholarship at the University of Arkansas Athletic Department.
Mr. Stephens's love of sports (football and golf in particular) led to a $10 million gift to the U.S. Naval Academy Foundation in Annapolis, Md. The donation funded the recent renovation at the Navy Marine Corp Stadium near the campus which has been renamed Jack Stephens Field. The gift is the largest ever made to the Naval Academy.
When asked by the PGA TOUR if he would support the launching of a new program to teach golf and its values to children by creating affordable and accessible golf facilities, Mr. Stephens surpassed their expectations with a $5 million donation to help start The First Tee. The program serves children who have not previously been exposed to the game of golf.
Mr. Stephens loved the game of golf and once told a reporter, "Golf is a great teacher in life. The same skills needed to master this game are the same skills needed to master life, a life full of unseen obstacles and excitement."
In 1962, Mr. Stephens was invited to become a member of the Augusta National Golf Club. Mr. Stephens served as its fourth Chairman (1991-1998) with the responsibility of overseeing the golf club and the most prestigious tournament in golf, the Masters. After turning over the duties of chairman to Hootie Johnson in 1998, Mr. Stephens was named Chairman Emeritus.
Mr. Stephens won numerous awards and recognitions during his lifetime. He was honored with the Horatio Alger Award in 1980 and he was the first recipient of the J. William Fulbright Award given for international trade development in 1989. Mr. Stephens served on the board of the Little Rock Boys Club, The Quapaw Council of The Boy Scouts of America. He served 10 years on the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law Degree and a University of Arkansas Distinguished Alumnus citation. He was inducted into the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame, the Arkansas State Golf Hall of Fame, and the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
Jack Stephens was a proud and loving father and grandfather. He is survived by two sons: Jackson T. "Steve" Stephens, Jr; Warren Stephens, and his wife, Harriet Stephens; six grandchildren: Caroline Stephens, Jackson T. Stephens III, Mason Stephens, Miles Stephens, John Stephens and Laura Stephens; two great-grandchildren: Sydney Stephens and Bruce Stephens, Jr.; and two adopted children: Kerry LaNoche and James Stephens. Mr. Stephens is also survived by two sisters: Jewel Mays of Prattsville, Arkansas and Wilma Thornton of Searcy, Ark.
A memorial service followed by visitation will be held at 3 p.m., Wednesday, July 27 at Episcopal Collegiate School, located at 1701 Cantrell Road. Ruebel Funeral Home is handling the arrangements.
The family requests that memorials be considered in lieu of flowers to one of the following organizations: Episcopal Collegiate School, Jackson T. Stephens Campus, 1701 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, Arkansas 72201; Arkansas Arts Center, 501 East 9th Street, Little Rock, Arkansas 72202; First Tee of Arkansas, #1 First Tee Way, Little Rock, Arkansas 72204; First Tee of Fort Smith, 5800 Geren Road, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72916; or the Jackson T. Stephens Spine and Neurosciences Institute, 4301 West Markham, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205.
Jack Stephens was an original American success story with roots deep in the soil of his home state of Arkansas and his other great devotion, the Augusta National Golf Club. His life was filled with many successes and his compassion, commitment and dedication resulted in an extraordinary journey that touched many lives.
Nancy Irene Lowe Sherman
Nancy Irene Lowe Sherman, 90, of Little Rock, died on Saturday, July 2, 2005, after a lengthy illness. She was born in Gillett, Arkansas to Dr. William Walton Lowe and Lilly Quertermous Lowe. She was descended on her mother's side from early Arkansas County settlers; her father moved to Arkansas County as an adult with his large family in the late 19th Century. Dr. Lowe practiced medicine for a time at Arkansas Post, before its final demise as a town and then in Gillett. His daughter Nancy would often accompany him on his medical rounds in the country, serving as driver. Nancy was a good tennis player and horsewoman in her youth. At age 16, she entered Central Arkansas Baptist College, where she received her music diploma and after a period of instruction from Arkansas State Teachers College (now UCA), she received her Arkansas teachers' certificate. She taught music in Gillett and then primary school in a one-room school near Elmira. Her career as a teacher was short-lived, as she marriage Lincoln F. Sherman in 1936. She then taught piano students and served as church pianist and organist in the Methodist churches in Mountain Home and Branson, MO. She continued to accompany various groups and her Friendly Couples Church School Class at First United Methodist Church, Little Rock. As new-comers to Branson in 1954, Nancy and Lincoln Sherman helped to organize the new Methodist church there. Nancy Sherman was an accomplished seamstress, making dresses for her daughter-in-law and granddaughters. She was a devoted wife, mother and grandmother. The family thanks her neighbors, friends, church family and the devoted staff at Presbyterian Village for their care and assistance.
Mrs. Sherman is survived by her son William Farrar Sherman and his wife Carole Lynn; her grandchildren, John Farrar Sherman, Anna Sherman and Lucy Sherman Kempf and one great-grandson, Alex Billington. She is also survived by the children of her late brother Ben Lowe, Priscilla Lowe Dahlen, Kathleen Lowe Nutt, Nancy Jane Lowe Butler and Walton Lowe.
Graveside services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 5, 2005 at Roselawn Memorial Park officiated by Rev. Dr. Michael Mattox, First United Methodist Church, Little Rock. Arrangements are by Ruebel Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First United Methodist Church, Little Rock, Voice of the Retarded, 5005 Newport Drive, Suite 108, Rolling Meadows, Illinois 60008, or a favorite charity.
Kay Adams Farabee Rash
Kay Adams Farabee Rash, age 60, of Little Rock, died July 10, 2005. She was born in Little Rock, daughter of Jane Adams Farabee on March 15, 1945. She graduated from Hall High and went on to attend The University of Central Arkansas. Kay worked in several Governmental Offices before retiring from the Corps of Engineers after 30 years of service. She was a Member of First Church of Christ Scientist and gained much from it's support.
Kay was preceded in death by her grandmother, Lottie Adams; her uncles, Skipwith Adams and Reaves Adams; and cousin, Tommy Adams. She is survived by her mother, Jane Adams Farabee; her daughter, Ashley Michelle Galloway; grand daughter, Brenna Elizabeth Galloway; aunt, Mildred Adams; cousin, Jane Trainham; and cousin-in-law, Betty Adams.
Kay had a big and generous heart for friends, acquaintances and for life. She saw and took care of the needs of others before they expressed that need. After meeting someone, she noticed the good in them and had something complimentary to say. Mrs. Rash was true Southern Lady, the epitome of gracious charm. She handled many problems, sometimes to the detriment of her own health. Finally, her big heart ceased to function.
A Celebration of Kay's Life will be held in the Chapel of Ruebel Funeral Home, on Thursday, July 14, 2005 at 10:00 AM with Frances Reichert as Reader. Burial will be at Mount Holly Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please make memorials to the First Church of Christ Scientist, 10720 North Rodney Parham, Little Rock, AR, 72212 or to the Pulaski County Humane Society.
Betty Jane Massengill Powell
Betty Jane Massengill Powell, 69, of Maumelle, gave birth to her soul on July 13, 2005. She was born in Little Rock, on March 23, 1936, to the late O'Neal and Ida Massengill.
She was a retired switchboard operator at U.A.M.S., where she was known as "The Cake Lady".
Survivors include her children, Celeste Bunch and husband C.O. of Gravel Ridge, Ward Kenneth Powell, III and wife Sharon of San Diego, CA, Cheryl Epperson and husband Gary of Maumelle, Yvonne Dotter and husband Keith of Maumelle, and Erroll Keith Powell and wife Dorothy of Little Rock; three brothers, three sisters, eight grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and a cousin, Zubie Jo Barnett of Ferndale.
Visitation is 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, 2005 at Ruebel Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Friday in the Chapel of Ruebel Funeral Home, officiated by Rev. Bob Raines, with graveside services following at 2:30 p.m. at St. Elizabeth Cemetery in Ada Valley, Arkansas.
Funeral arrangements are by Ruebel Funeral Home.
