Stories from Friday, February 11, 2011

Receiving a lifetime Grammy Award is a quite an achievement for any artist -- that is especially true when the recipient is 102-years-old. George Beverly Shea will board a private plane this week in North Carolina and fly across the country to California to be honored for his decades of work as America's most-renowned gospel singer...

Right on schedule comes the feast of Saint Valentine, who was honored for his interest and hard work in promoting the idea of love worn like a charm directly from heart to sleeve. He was a lover of lovers, who promoted the honest invitation to select one's object which we called "be my Valentine!"...

If we are lucky, a special valentine comes along. Cupid flings an arrow and we become smitten as never before. But there are other kinds of valentines that touch our lives. Maybe they don't cause the heart to pound, but they radiate pure love just the same...

The rural locations of Clay County are, in many ways, both a major attraction for the county, as well as a potential drawback. While many residents enjoy having their home located in country surroundings, few, if any, have publicly claimed to enjoy living on a gravel road...

Ruby F. (Bradford) Lowery of Lake Orion, Mich., passed away Saturday, Feb. 5, 2011, at age 92. She was the beloved wife of the late Clyde, loving mother of Clyde Jr. (Vivian), Joyce Hecklinski, Diane (Chris) Monte, Cheryl (Chuck) Model, Deborah Thompson, Michele Neilsen and the late Roger...

Peggy Sue Hale, 72, of Rector passed away Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011, at the Rector Nursing and Rehab. She was born Nov. 12, 1938, to the late Wilson and Eula (Allen) Brandon in Greenway. Surviving Peggy are her husband, Marion Weldon Hale; her son and his wife, Jeffrey and Angela Hale of Paragould; a granddaughter, Destiny Hale, and a sister, Betty Lou Rogers...

Travis Edward Cooper, son-in-law of Uluss and Helen Green, passed away Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010, at his home in Florissant, Mo., after a short illness with pancreatic and liver cancer. He was raised in West Memphis, but spent the last 40 years in Florissant. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. W.B. Cooper, are deceased...

Florene Veda Blankenship, 86, of Pollard, Ark., passed away Friday, Feb. 4, 2011, at St. Bernards Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro, Ark. She was born Feb. 2, 1925, and was the daughter of the late William Kirby and Eva Laura Peck Easterwood. On May 20, 1978, Florene was united in marriage to James Blankenship...

Charles Franklin Allen, son of the late Orace Guy Allen and Florence Valeria Overbey Allen, was born Nov. 16, 1936, in Lamar, Ark., and departed this life on Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011, at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., at the age of 74...