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Jean Grace Harrington
Jean Grace Harrington, age 92, of Little Rock died Thursday, July 29, 2004. She was born on October 5, 1911 in Strathroy, Canada to the late William and Carrie Ann Inch. She retired from the United States Postal Service and was an avid gardener.
Mrs. Harrington was preceded in death by her husband, C. A. " Pal " Harrington . She is survived by 3 daughters, Juanita Alexander and husband Thomas of San Antonio, TX, Barbara Sample and husband Edward of Little Rock, and Patricia and husband Robert of Corpus Christi, TX. Mrs. Harrington is also survived by 8 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren, and 9 great great grandchildren.
A graveside service will be held on Monday, August 2, 2004 at 10 AM at Seaside Memorial Park in Corpus Christi, TX.
Charles Edwin "Eddie" Lafferty
Charles Edwin (Eddie) Lafferty, 58, of Conway, Arkansas, went home to be with the Lord on August 4, 2004. He was born September 29, 1945 and lived most of his life in North Little Rock but spent the last 10 years in Conway.
He is survived by his wife, Becky Lafferty; his children, Shawn and Jessica Lafferty of Sherwood, and Kellie and Jimmy Bowers of Conway; and his brother, Mike Lafferty of North Little Rock. He was blessed with four grandchildren, Stormie, Hunter, Brice, and Colby.
The memorial service will be held on Friday, August 6, 2004, at 3 p.m. in the Ruebel Funeral Home Chapel in Little Rock.
Donald Wilson McKay
Donald Wilson McKay, age 89, of Little Rock died Wednesday, August 18, 2004. He was born in New Orleans, LA, the son of the late Edwin Wilson McKay and Okallah Gerrans McKay. He was educated in the New Orleans public schools and Tulane University where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. He was a veteran of WWII and retired as a Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. He moved to Little Rock in 1960 and after retiring from Lawyers Cooperative Publishing Company, devoted himself to community service. A firm believer in education, he served as a substitute teacher for six years. He was a Charter Member of Literacy Action of Central Arkansas, in fact the by-laws of LACA were written in his living room. In his three terms as president, he was instrumental in their growth. He was also an active member of St. Paul United Methodist Church. He loved family, baseball, books, and gardening.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Lucy Talley McKay, two daughters, Melissa Colburn of Little Rock and Christine Stephens of Houston, TX, two granddaughters, and two great grandsons.
Memorial services will be Saturday, August 21, at 3 p.m. at the Ruebel Funeral Home Chapel. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to St. Paul United Methodist Church, the Central High School library or the Humane Society.
Georgea Black McKinley
Georgea Black McKinley, of Little Rock, died July 30, 2004. She was born in Dewitt, AR, the daughter of the late Lester Asher and Mary Boone Black. She was the widow of Edward Ivie McKinley Jr.. Mrs. McKinely attended DeWitt schools, Ward Belmont in Nashville, TN and Randolph Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia. She was a Methodist. She was a member of the Aesthetic Club, The Colonial Dames of America, Little Rock Garden Club, Junior League of Little Rock, Edelweiss Club, Daughters of the American Revolution, United Daughters of the Confederacy and Arkansas Pioneers.
Mrs. McKinley is survived by her two daughters; Mary McKinley Jennings of DeWitt, AR and Georgea McKinley Greaves of Greenville, SC; a son, Lester Asher McKinley of Dewitt, AR; grandchildren, Warren Arthur Jennings, Jr., Mary Jean Jennings Johnston, Georgia Jean, Page Radford and Ivie Duval Greaves, Mary Katherine and Edward Ivie McKinley, III; great grandchildren, Carole Frances Jennings, Sara Wallis Jennings, Robert McKnight Johnston III, and Mary Asher Johnston. Her sister, Mrs. George Dunklin of Pine Bluff also survives her. She was preceded in death by her sister, Hattie Boone Black of DeWitt.
Graveside services will be held Saturday, July 31, at 4:00 PM at Roselawn Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to The DeWitt Hospital and Nursing Home Foundation, PO Box 32, DeWitt, AR 72042.
The Reverend Richard F. Milwee
The Reverend Richard F. Milwee, age 65, of Little Rock, the former Archdeacon of the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas, died of cancer, July 10, 2004. Milwee was born in Little Rock in 1938, and educated in the Fort Worth, Texas public schools, and graduated from McCauley School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. In 1960, he graduated from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi where he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Order. He attended Seminary at the Episcopal Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Massachusetts and in 1965 married
Marie. He was ordained by Bishop Robert R. Brown in 1964, and assigned as Vicar at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Benton, and St. Michael's Episcopal Church in Arkadelphia. In the wake of Dr. Martin Luther King's assassination in 1968, Milwee hosted a Multi-racial interdenominational memorial service in Benton. In 1969 he accepted the position of Rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Pine Bluff, where he served until 1981. In that same year Bishop Herbert Donovan tapped Milwee as Archdeacon of the Arkansas Diocese and gave him full administrative oversight over thirty-three mission congregations. In 1985, he became Executive for Development in the diocese as well. Salaries for mission clergy were raised under Milwee's watch and subsidies for missions, which in Milwee's words awarded inefficiency and poor performance, were eliminated and replaced by meaningful grants and loans. Milwee also played a critical and catalytic role in developing St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in Little Rock. Milwee served under four Bishops in Arkansas (Brown, Keller, Donovan, and Maze). In the Diocese of Arkansas, he served as a member and chair on the Executive Council, Standing Committee, Committee on Ministry, and Diocesan Task Force on Financial Development. He represented the diocese as a delegate to three General Conventions and was a member of the Board of Trustees of both the Seminary of Southwest in Austin, Texas and All Saints' School in Vicksburg, Mississippi, as well as, the Anglican Digest and Oasis Renewal Center.
Milwee was active with the development of Pastoral Care and Education for the University Medical School, the Arkansas Prison Ministry, the State Advisory Commission to the United States Commission on Civil Rights, the Southwest Career Development Center, And numerous conferences on such disparate subjects as alcoholism and transactional analysis. After his retirement in 1998, he continued working with the National Church as a member of the Episcopal Church Building Fund.
Milwee is survived by his wife, Marie Milwee of Little Rock, one daughter, Marion Milwee Kingdon and husband Jim of Charlottesville, Virginia, one son John Bradley Milwee and wife Jennifer of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, an Aunt Rosa Katherine Milwee Hutt of Sherman, Texas, his dog Wallace and his other dog Deuce.
There will be a funeral service held Monday at 11am at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church. Arrangements are under the direction of Ruebel Funeral Home, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com.
Memorials, in lieu of flowers, should be made to St. Margaret's Episcopal Church in West Little Rock, or to the University of Arkansas Medical Science Center, Department of Psychiatry Building fund, 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock 72205.
Dr. Robin Lynn Mitchell
Robin Lynn Mitchell, who passed away on Saturday, August 14, 2004, will be remembered by many people for many reasons. A dedicated daughter, she was an accomplished physician, military officer, athlete and sports enthusiast. Her skills as a doctor were matched only by her enthusiasm for life and her love for her family and friends.
Born February 14, 1973, in New York, N.Y., Robin grew up in Newburgh, N.Y., where she developed into both a spelling bee champion and a diehard New York Yankees fan. As a seventh-grader, she earned a varsity letter as a member of the Newburgh Free Academy varsity track team. She eventually became captain of the school's track and cross-country teams, earning numerous honors. She was valedictorian of Newburgh Free Academy's class of 1990.
Robin attended Harvard University on a Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps scholarship, graduating in 1994 with a bachelor of arts degree in chemistry. She graduated from Cornell University Medical College in 1998 and served an internship at the Naval Medical Center in San Diego in general surgery. She was a resident in neurological surgery at the Ohio State University Medical Center until January of 2003 when she came to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as a resident with the Department of Neurosurgery.
Topping her education and career, Robin was recently named chief resident for the UAMS Department of Neurosurgery, no small feat for someone active in so many areas. A member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, she was also a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Naval Reserve. She received a Meritorious Unit Commendation Medal, a Fleet Marine Force Ribbon, two National Defense Service medals, a Sea Service Deployment ribbon and was awarded a Navy Pistol Ribbon as an expert marksman.
She served as a general medical officer with the 3rd Force Service Support Group, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force, stationed in Okinawa, Japan, from July 1999 to June 2000. She also served with the Combat Service Support Detachment 34 during Exercise "Cobra Gold" in Samsut Song, Thailand, from February to May 2000.
Robin's father, Wilmot Mitchell, died in 1993. Robin is survived by her mother, Eva Mitchell of Little Rock; her brother, David Mitchell of Brooklyn, Conn.; her sister-in-law, Edilma Mitchell; her grandmother, Evangeline Giusti of Rincon, Puerto Rico; her cousins, Jason Carman of New York, Dr. Elise Carman of West Patterson, N.J., Robin Kelly of Matteson, Ill., Glenn Kelly of New York, Christopher Carman of Long Island, N.Y.; her uncle, Raymond Crespo of New York; her aunts, Cynthia Kelly of New York, Carole Carman of Fort Lee, N.J., Gloria Mitchell of New York, Doris Crespo of New York and Brunilda Crespo, Carmen Garcia and Nelly Rodriguez, all of Rincon, Puerto Rico; and all of her family in the UAMS Department of Neurosurgery.
She will be greatly missed by her friends at UAMS, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and Arkansas Children's Hospital, where she served admirably and touched the lives of so many. She came to be a beloved member of the Department of Neurosurgery family in a very short period of time. She was described by Dr. Ossama Al-Mefty, chairman of the department, as "a stellar student, an excellent surgeon, hard working, motivated and one who cared about her patients, cared about her work and duties - her spirit and dedication conquered all challenges. She had climbed the mountain and was inches from the peak."
Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Friday, August 20, 2004, in the chapel of Ruebel Funeral Home, 6313 West Markham St.
In lieu of flowers, friends are asked to make a donation to the Dr. Robin L. Mitchell Memorial Fund at Regions Bank, 4224 W. Markham, Little Rock, 72205.
Wilma Jean Nease
Wilma Jean Nease, 94, of Little Rock, died Wednesday, July 21, 2004. She was born Feb. 6, 1910, in Hugo, OK, to the late William A. and Nancy McCoy Nease. She was also preceded in death by two sisters, Irma and Dot; two brothers, Bob and Gordon; and a nephew, Michael. She retired as a supervisor with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1973.
She is survived by a sister-in-law, Rita; nephew, Steve and his wife Sandy, and their children, Weston and Haley; and nephews Bill and Dick.
Funeral service will be 10 a.m. Monday, July 26 at the Ruebel Funeral Home Chapel with burial in Roselawn Memorial Park.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Westover Hills Presbyterian Church.
The Honorable Stephen M. Reasoner
Stephen M. Reasoner, who has been a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas for Sixteen years, died August 14, 2004 after a long illness. He was 60 years old.
Judge Reasoner was born in Houston, Texas, and held a B.A. in economics and a J.D. (with honors) from the University of Arkansas. He was editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review. Following graduation from law school in 1969, Judge Reasoner practiced law until 1988 with the firm of Barrett, Wheatley, Smith and Deacon in Jonesboro, Arkansas, until his appointment to United States District Judge by President Ronald Reagan. He served his court with distinction as chief judge for seven years. Although he had taken senior status last year because of his illness, he kept up a significant docket until very recently.
Judge Reasoner revered the law and loved being a judge. He was a favorite of the Arkansas Bar. He won the Arkansas Bar Association Golden Gavel Award in 1999. He presided over his courtroom with courtesy, firmness and dispatch. Judge Reasoner brought a keen energy to all he did. He was mindful of the biblical injunction, "Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do it with all thy might"
Honor and duty were very important to him and like his heroes, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, he fought for causes dear to his heart. Those causes have always been family, his friends, the church and the law. Once he saw his duty clearly, he gave his heart fully no matter the obstacles. He fought valiantly until the end.
Judge Reasoner was a devoted Anglican. He was a mainstay at St Mark's Episcopal Church in Jonesboro for years, serving on the vestry and as senior warden, and became an active member of the Episcopal Church in Little Rock. He was an unabashed traditionalist. In a newspaper interview some years ago, he stated that he was "Very old-fashioned", and said that "People should conduct themselves as ladies and gentlemen in my court". He was a life-long Republican and, before his appointment to the bench, was active in party affairs on a local and state level. Some years back, while driving to court, he devised what he called the Federal Judge's Prayer. "Dear Lord", it begins, "Please make the decision I have to make today as obvious and clear as everybody else thinks it is".
Judge Reasoner is survived by Susan, his wife of 36 years, (a Little Rock psychotherapist), his son Brian, a Captain in the U.S. Army who served in Iraq, and his brother, Dr. Melton Reasoner, Jr. of Willow Point Lodge, Canada; nephews, Dr. Colin Reasoner of San Diego, California, Carl Fulton, Jr. and Joshua Fulton both of Quinlan, Texas; and nieces Darcie Reasoner Gorman, M.D. of Salt Lake City, Utah, Stephanie Beaver of Richardson, Texas, and Rebecca Fulton of Quinlan, Texas. His Godchildren are David Jones and Michelle Jones Kooi of Colorado, Megan Henry of Fayetteville, Precious Ugwu of Austin, Texas and Laura Grafton of Little Rock;
Funeral services will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 18 at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, Aug 17 at Ruebel Funeral Home in Little Rock. He will be interred with his grandparents, mother and brother at the family gravesite at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Dickinson, Texas.
His pallbearers are Robert Jones III of Ft. Smith, Elwood "Woody" Freeman Jr, The Honorable David Laser, John V. Phelps, Troy Henry & Bobby McDaniel of Jonesboro, AR, P. Mark Ledbetter of Memphis, Robert Cearley Jr, W. Dent Gitchell, and the Hon. Morris S. Arnold of Little Rock.
Donations in the honor of his memory may be made to University of Arkansas Law School scholarship fund, the Arkansas Bar Association, the memorial funds at Trinity Cathedral, St Thomas Reformed Episcopal Church, or St Andrews Anglican Church.
Dr. Paul M. Ridgway
Dr. Paul M. Ridgway, Jr., 66, of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas, died Friday, July 16, 2004 in Little Rock. He was born in Hillsboro, Kansas on November 6, 1937 to the late Paul M. Ridgway, Sr. and Genevieve Godding Ridgway.
Dr. Ridgway earned his Ph.D. in Anatomy and Physiology from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, and went on to teach at Memphis State University. He later received his Doctorate of Chiropractic from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa, and began his own practice in Memphis. He served his country in the United States Navy and was a member of Christ of the Hills United Methodist Church in Hot Springs Village.
In the Village, he enjoyed antique cars, golf, tennis, and singing with the Cedar Mountain Singers and his church choir. He had the honor of serving on the Board of Directors of the Paul Bewie Boys and Girls Club.
He is survived by his wife, Cindy Guilkey Ridgway; two sisters, Pat Milburn of Kansas City, Kansas, and Ruth McEwan of Toronto, Ontario, Canada; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Memorial services will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 at Christ of the Hills United Methodist Church with Rev. Bill Leslie and Rev. Sue Kelly officiating. Cremation arrangements are by Ruebel Funeral Home of Little Rock, Arkansas, 501-666-0123, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com.
Memorials may be made to the Paul Bewie Boys and Girls Club, P.O. Box 8603, Hot Springs Village, AR 71910.
Reeves Estes Ritchie
Reeves Estes Ritchie, age 90, of Little Rock, died Wednesday, August 4th, 2004. He was born in Amarillo, Texas graduating later from high school in Pine Bluff. He attended the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, school of business administration, before attending Washington University in St. Louis. During an electric utility industry career that spanned more than 50 years of continuous service, Reeves steered Arkansas Power and Light Company to a position of "energy independence" based on a combination of domestic nuclear and coal fuels that could not be disrupted by the ups and downs of international petroleum politics and recurring world crisis. Ritchie retired active company service on August 1, 1997, but continued to serve on the AP&L Advisory Board until May, 1994. Achieving energy independence for the company during this critical time was a major goal for AP&L's president, chief executive officer, and chairman of the board. It was just one of many challenges in a long and productive career that began somewhat by chance. Ritchie had accepted a temporary job with AP&L in 1936 as a machinist's helper at the old Little Rock Power Plant. Newly married
to former Gladys Cook of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Ritchie needed to earn a dependable income while waiting for a "banking job" to open up at Pine Bluff. Ritchie, who loved working with his hands, quickly became fascinated with power plants and electric energy and within six years had risen to the position of assistant plant superintendent. The bank in Pine Bluff never called and Ritchie was now working his life's work. Working with people in something Ritchie enjoys as much as he enjoyed working with tools, so when an opportunity arose to become personnel counselor, at Pine Bluff in 1945, he took it. He was promoted in 1951 assistant to the division manager. In 1958 he was elevated to personnel director, vice-president two years later and soon after to executive vice-president. In 1962, at age 48, he became the fifth man in AP&L history to serve as company president, working for 17 years at the helm of AP&L. During Ritchie's career, AP&L was an operating company of Middle South Utilities, Inc., now Entergy Corporation. AP&L is now Entergy Arkansas. He was proud of the AP&L team effort that made his dream of "energy independence" for the company a realization. Ritchie had announced plans for the construction of AP&L's two-unit Arkansas Nuclear One (ANO) power plant on the Arkansas River near Russellville in 1967. It was the first nuclear station in the Southwest. In June of 1973, during the oil embargo, he announced the construction of another power plant near Redfield on the Arkansas River that would burn a fuel AP&L had not used for many years, coal. These nuclear and coal units assured that AP&L and its customers would never again be caught in a foreign oil trap. In recognition of his insistence that Arkansas achieve electric energy independence through reliance on domestic fuel sources, friends of Ritchie from throughout the country gathered at Arkansas Nuclear One Steam Electric Station in Pope County on December 11, 1979, dedicating the modern new training facility at the station in his honor as the "Reeves E. Ritchie Nuclear Training Center." Ritchie was active in a broad range of civic and industry activities throughout his long career. Prior to moving to Little Rock in 1961, he was a member of the Pine Bluff Rotary Club and served as a director of the Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce for nine years. Ritchie was president of the Pine Bluff Boys Club for two years and served as a director of the organization for six years. He also served as president of the Pine Bluff Junior Chamber of Commerce, and was elected outstanding man of the year in 1950 by that organization. He also served as a national director of the Junior Chamber of Commerce and as president of the Arkansas State Junior Chamber of Commerce. He was a director in the Jefferson County Tuberculosis Association and participated in numerous Jefferson County Community Chest fund drives during his time in Pine Bluff. Ritchie was Deacon and Elder in the First Christian Church of Pine Bluff, where he served as chairman of the Building and Grounds Committee. After resettling in Little Rock, Ritchie was called upon to serve in a variety of leadership positions for various public service projects, including: president of the Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce and the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce; a director of the United Way of Pulaski County and the Urban Progress Association; board chairman of the Arkansas State Council on Economic Education; and as member and chairman of the board of the Little Rock Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Ritchie also served on the boards of the Arkansas Arts Center, Ozark Folk Cultural Center, Little Rock's fifty for the Future, the Committee of 100 for Pulaski County; and many others. He served as a member of the Dean's Business Advisory Committee, College of Business Administration, University of Arkansas. A Rotarian, he was elected to an honorary membership in the Rotary Club of Little Rock in 1991. Governor Orval Faubus appointed him to the Arkansas Educational Television Commission, and Governor Rockefeller appointed him to the Executive Committee of the Citizens Advisory Committee to the Governor. He was on the board of directors and served as president of the Southwestern Electric Exchange; Southwest Power Pool; National Association of Electric Companies; National Association of Manufacturers; and the Edison Electric Institute. He was an honorary member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the professional fraternity of commerce. He was an enthusiastic duck hunter and fisherman, though he admits to slowing up some in recent years. He was a Master Mason, Little Rock Consistory; Knight Commander of the Court of Honor; and a 33rd Degree Mason. He was a past potentate of the Sahara Shrine Temple at Pine Bluff. After his retirement, Ritchie devoted considerable time to service on the Civil Service Commission at Little Rock (1983-91). He also found a way to practice his skills with hand tools again. Long member of First Christian Church, and a member of the official board, Ritchie also served as Chairman of the Property Committee, where he was responsible for the maintenance of church properties. "Basically, I kept the congregation warm in the winter and cool in the summer", he explained.
He is survived by his wife, Gladys Cook Ritchie of Little Rock, one son Robert Estes Ritchie and wife Dana of Little Rock, a daughter Nancy M. Ritchie who died in 1989, 4 grandchildren; John A. Ritchie of Seattle, Washington, Pamela Wilson and husband Greg of Abilene, Texas, Robin McNight and husband Allen of Woodlands, Texas, Susan Ritchie of Little Rock, and three great-grandchildren; Sarah of Abilene, Texas, and Rebecca and Kathryn of Woodlands, Texas.
There will a visitation Monday evening from 6 to 8pm at First Christian Church (corner of Evergreen and Mississippi Avenue) followed by a memorial service at 1pm Tuesday at the church.
Arrangements are under the direction of Ruebel Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers memorials should be made to the First Christian Church Endowment Fund, 1500 North Mississippi Avenue, Little Rock 72205.
