Obituaries

William Clare Marris (04/01/05)
William Clare Marris, 90, died Monday, March 24, 2005, in Fort Myers, Fla. He was born July 7, 1914, in Piggott, the son of Rev. William H. and Oma Gilbert Marris. After graduating from Piggott High School, he attended the University of Arkansas receiving his degree in chemistry in 1936...

Oscar Conley Speer (04/01/05)
Oscar Conley Speer, 85, of Rector, died Saturday, March 12, 2005, at Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. Born June 20, 1919, in the Campground Community near Paragould to the late Joseph Speer and Amanda Ramer Speer, he was a mechanic, farmer, a World War II Army veteran, of the Methodist faith and had been a member of this community for 66 years...

Virgie M. Rogers, 94, of Piggott, died Thursday, March 24, 2005, in the Jonesboro Health Care in Jonesboro. (04/01/05)
She was born May 25, 1910, in Rector, the daughter of the late William Walker and Della Irby Smith. She was united in marriage to Elbert Druie Rogers on Oct. 24, 1931. They had one son. She was preceded in death by one brother and four sisters. She is survived by her husband, Elbert Druie Rogers; one son, Joe Rogers and wife, Melba, of Jonesboro; three grandchildren, Preston Rogers and Melissa Rogers, both of Jonesboro, and Clifton Rogers of Racine, Wisc.; three great-grandchildren, Kyle, Joseph and Connor; and other relatives and friends.. ...

Henry Cornelious Templeton (04/08/05)
Henry Cornelious Templeton, 94, of Arlington, Texas, formerly of Piggott, died on Saturday, March 26, 2005. He was the first child to be born in the new home on Cherry Street built by his father, W.D. "Buck" Templeton, on March 16, 1911. The home is now known as the "Pfeiffer-Janes House" and is part of the Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center...

Ruth Hunter Ballard (04/08/05)
Ruth Hunter Ballard passed away on March 27, 2005, at Hope Hospice in Fort Myers, Fla., after a brief illness. She was born in Marianna, Ark., the daughter of Maude and Frank Hunter Sr. in 1916. She was preceded in death by her parents; two brothers; two sisters; and her husband of 59 years, Willard H. Ballard...

John Daniel Benson (04/08/05)
John Daniel Benson, 40, of Paragould, died Monday, March 28, 2005, in the Arkansas Methodist Medical Center in Paragould. He was born Jan. 2, 1965, in Piggott, the son of David and Cathleen Throgmorton Benson. He married Kimberly Gay Harmon on Feb. 14, 1996...

James R. Staples (04/14/05)
James R. Staples, former Arizona Southern Baptist leader and retired president of California Baptist University, died Monday, Jan. 3, 2005, in Dallas. Staples served two stints (1960-1962, 1970) as editor of the Baptist Beacon, newsjournal of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention (The Beacon was succeeded by Portraits magazine in 1997.)...

Joan A. Libby Greaney (04/14/05)
Joan A. Libby Greaney, 72, of Piggott, died Tuesday, April 5, 2005, at Murphy Health and Rehabilitation Center in Piggott. She was born April 20, 1932, in Scarborough, Pine Point, Maine, the daughter of the late Leon Stanley and Oletta June Skillings Libby...

Charles W. Tyler (04/14/05)
Charles W. Tyler, 66, of McDougal, died Sunday, April 10, 2005, at Piggott Community Hospital in Piggott. He was born Dec. 9, 1938, in Knobel, the son of the late James Howell Tyler and Hazel Fay Floyd Tyler. He was united in marriage to Carmaleda Kilbreth on June 24, 1989...

Wanda L. (Austin) Schultz (04/14/05)
Wanda L. (Austin) Schultz, 74, of Perryville, Mo., formerly of Piggott and Greenway, died Sunday, April 3, 2005, at Perry County Memorial Hospital. She was born Oct. 22, 1930, in Greene County, Ark., the daughter of Nelson W. and Lillie (Mofield) Austin Sr...

Charles Bare (04/14/05)
Charles Bare, 83, of Hilmar, Calif., died Friday, Feb. 4, 2005, at Emanuel Medical Center. He was born Sept. 9, 1921, in Arkansas, the son of John Harry Bare and Margaret Jane "Jenny" Templeton Bare. He retired from the United States Navy Military Sea Transportation Service after 28 years at sea. He was in World War II in the South Pacific, also in the Korean War and Vietnam War, taking troops and supplies around the world...

Robert G. O'Dell (04/14/05)
Robert G. O'Dell, 97, of Rockford, Ill., died on Saturday, April 9, 2005. He was born May 31, 1907, in Columbus, Ky., the son of the late George Roland O'Dell and Floridia Hamilton O'Dell. He was united in marriage to Leona Bishop on Oct. 14, 1933. They had one son, John George O'Dell, who was born on Nov. 6, 1934...

Raymond Wright (04/14/05)
Raymond Wright, 88, of Piggott, died Tuesday, April 12, 2005, at the Murphy Health and Rehabilitation Center in Piggott. Arrangements were incomplete at press time. A complete obituary will appear in next week's paper. Hoggard and Sons Funeral Home of Piggott is in charge of the arrangements...

Raymond Andrew Wright (04/20/05)
Raymond Andrew Wright, 88, of Piggott, died Tuesday, April 12, 2005, in the Murphy Health and Rehabilitation Center in Piggott. He was born Nov. 27, 1916, near St. Louis, the only son of the late James Monroe and Lottie Cantrell Wright. He was married to Sylvia Virginia Hughes on Jan. 27, 1937. They had seven children...

Helen Crain (04/20/05)
Helen Crain, 81, of Piggott, died Tuesday, April 12, 2005, at the Green Acres Nursing Home in Paragould. She was born Aug. 28, 1923, in Crockett, the daughter of the late Austin and Ruby Hardin Dalton. She was married to Andrew Crain on May 21, 1945. They had six children...

Bobby Ellis (04/20/05)
Bobby Ellis, 69, of Piggott, died Wednesday, April 13, 2005, in Jonesboro Health Care in Jonesboro, Ill. He was born on Sept. 14, 1935, to the late Julaish H. and Hattie Knuckles Ellis. He was preceded in death by an infant sister; and two brothers, J.R. Ellis and Randall Ellis...

Frederick "Fred" W. Allen (04/20/05)
Frederick "Fred" W. Allen, 67, died on Monday, March 28, 2005, at his home in St. Peters, Mo. He was born Jan. 7, 1938, in Pollard, the son of Rosa Leoma (Conley) Allen and the late Denver R. Allen. He was married to Margaret "Margie" Wiggi in 1956 and to this union four children were born...

Norman Harriss Grider (04/20/05)
Norman Harriss Grider, 68, a native of St. Louis, and a long-time resident of Mobile, Ala., died at his home in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2005. After graduating Sidney Lanier High School and Oklahoma University, he served in the U. S. Army...

Ray Edward Underwood Sr. (04/20/05)
Ray Edward Underwood Sr., 79, of Cahokia, Ill., died on Tuesday, March 29, 2005, in Cahokia. He was born March 9, 1926, in Ullin, Ill., the son of the late Earnest and Vera Underwood. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by one child...

Carmen Harris (Shaver) Templeton (04/20/05)
Carmen Harris (Shaver) Templeton died on Saturday, April 9, 2005, at Lawrence Memorial Hospital in Walnut Ridge. She was born Oct. 9, 1922, in Ingram Township of Arkansas, the daughter of Carter and Myrtle (Harris) Shaver. She was married on Oct. 25, 1941, to Cecil Keel Templeton. They had five children, Carmen Beatrice, Walter Cecil, Guy Calvin, Cecilia Sue and Mary Carol...

Joel Gilbert Muse (04/20/05)
Joel Gilbert Muse, 71, of Clarksville, Tenn., died Friday, April 8, 2005, at Gateway Medical Center. He was born on Dec. 2, 1933, in Clarkton, Mo., the son of the late Edward Gilbert Muse and Emma Morrisett Muse. Mr. Muse was a retired major in the U.S. Air Force, a veteran of the Vietnam War and a Baptist...

Delona M. Spinks (04/27/05)
Delona M. Spinks, 79, of Piggott died Tuesday, April 19, 2005, in the Gideon Care in Gideon, Mo. She was born on May 8, 1925, in Crockett, the daughter of the late Barney Richard and Ilah Bertha Goodwin Morrisett. She married Doyle M. Parrish in May of 1943. He preceded her in death in 1944. She married Harrison Houston Spinks on October 5, 1946. He preceded her in death in 2002...

Lawrence Grazevich (04/27/05)
Lawrence Grazevich, 82, of Piggott, died Saturday, April 23, 2005, in the Piggott Community Hospital. He was born on March 25, 1923, in Benld, Ill., the son of the late Carl and Augusta Grazevich. He married Maxine Showmaker in 1941. He is survived by his wife, Maxine Grazevich of Piggott, and other relatives and friends...