Stories from Thursday, March 2, 2006

Rector Healthcare recently was purchased by Care Management of Newport. The facility's name has been changed to Evergreen Health and Rehabilitation. Care Management also owns and operates nursing homes in Newport and Corning. With the new ownership comes new administrator Jenna Burnett. Burnett holds a bachelor's degree in Health Information Management from Arkansas Tech at Russellville. Burnett got her start in the medical field as a certified nurse's assistant at the age of 16...

Rector native Jerry P. Bookout of Jonesboro, who served 34 years in the state General Assembly, both as a state representative and state senator, died Wednesday, Feb. 22, at age 72 after a battle with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a cancer of the lymph nodes...

A 13-0 fourth quarter rally breathed new life in the Marmaduke Lady Greyhounds in their regional semifinal with Buffalo Island Central at Earle this past Friday. Trailing 42-29 going into the fourth, Marmaduke's offense outburst tied the game at 42-42, setting the teams up for overtime. The extra time was unkind to the Lady Greyhounds, as they fell 48-43...

Jackie Don Vaughn Sr., 47, of Piggott died on Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006, at his home. He was born July 24, 1958, in Newport, Ore., the son of Donald Lou and Opal Mabelene Hart Vaughn. He was united in marriage to Sheila Holifield on Feb. 21, 1978. He was preceded in death by his father, Donald Lou on Jan. 11, 1968; and his mother, Opal on Feb. 23, 1996...

Glenda Jean Landis Phelan, 76, of St. Louis, formerly of the Rector and Marmaduke areas, died Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2006, in St. Louis. Born March 19, 1929, in Marmaduke to the late Glen and Una Landers, she had lived in Avalon Gardens Nursing Center in St. Louis since August 2004...

Ola Mae (Huffstutler) McGinthy, 89, of Empire, Calif., a native of Rector, died Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006, at her home. She was born April 14, 1916, in Rector to the late Mr. and Mrs. John Thomas Huffstutler. She also was preceded in death by her siblings, Florence Patton, Kathleen Rohda, Carl Huffstutler and Henry Huffstutler, all of Rector...

Carl Lucille Casey, 81, formerly of the Rector and Pollard areas, died Saturday, Feb. 25, at the Manor Nursing Home in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Born Feb. 18, 1925 in Clay County to the late Samuel Cagle and May (Creed) Cagle, she was a fancy stitcher for the Brown Shoe Company and a member of Trailers Chapel General Baptist Church...

Susie Martha Fowler, 87, of Rogers, formerly of Rector, died Saturday, Feb. 25, 2006, at Rogers. She was born Feb. 11, 1919, in El Paso, Ark., to the late John and Willie McDaniel. She was a homemaker and of the Baptist faith. Survivors include her husband of 66 years, Doyne Fowler; daughter and son-in-law, Virginia and Otis Lovelace of Rogers; son-in-law, Gregg Sinkbeil of Sand Springs, Okla.; four grandsons, Jerry Lovelace, his wife Leslie and their children Justin, Logan and Molly, of Springdale, Terry Lovelace, his wife Gayle and their sons Hayden and Jayme of Rogers, and Brett and Kyle Sinkbeil of Sand Springs; one granddaughter, Ashley Bentley and husband Traven of Elkins; one sister, Olar Lamb of Rector; three sisters-in-law, Wilma McDaniel of Rector, Joyce McDaniel of Knob and Mary McDaniel of Michigan, and several nieces and nephews.. ...

Peggy Johnson of Piggott recalls vividly the day her world turned abruptly upside down. Valentine's Day 1987 came and went without even a notice. Her high school sweetheart, the first boy she had ever kissed, the boy who taught her to drive, and husband of 35 years, died with a massive heart attack in early February...

The Marmaduke Greyhounds faced a strong, motivated team as they met the 3AA-South champion Earle Bulldogs on their home court in the opening round of the regional tournament last Wednesday. Earle moved on with a 74-38 win. The Bulldogs got out to a 10-0 lead in the early going, but Marmaduke battled back, trailing 17-9 at the end of the first period. That grew to a 39-23 Earle lead at halftime. It was 62-31 going into the fourth...