Stories from Thursday, July 19, 2012

The Piggott Little League 9-10 year old all-star baseball team brought back the District 4 championship Tuesday, July 3rd from Bald Knob. The Piggott team drew a bye in the first round, and did not have to make the trip to White County for play Friday night...

The Rector All-Stars six-year-old team won second place in the District 4 Tournament recently at Walnut Ridge. Team members shown here are, from left: Samual Shipley, Carly Rodden, Kaden Avery, Ashton Scott, Blake Gipson, Carter Hill, Cooper Rabjohn, Drew Henderson and Sophie Hill. ...

The annual Rector High School Sports Hall of Fame Golf Tournament is fast approaching. The format will be four-man team scramble, the type used in previous events. Teams will have a "shotgun" tee time at 1 p.m. Friday, Aug. 31 at the Kennett Country Club. Participants are asked to please arrive and be checked in no later than 12:30 p.m. to insure a prompt tee time...

Clutter just happens. Suddenly your desk is filled with zig zagged papers of all sizes. There are five or six pair of reading glasses, none of which fit properly. And the desktop, in disarray, resembles the daybed across the room. The daybed is filled with clothes that need hanging but there are no more hangers and no more room in the closet. The big walk-in closet is filled with those plastic bins that are also stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey...

The preparation for the annual Rector Labor Day Picnic is nearly a year-round effort, with the hometown celebration having grown into a remarkable weekend event for lifelong and former residents. Volunteers are tasked with maintaining their level of commitment needed to make each Labor Day a success as a shining celebration each year for the entire Rector community...

Pollard native Gaylon M. Lawrence, owner of Piggott State Bank, died Tuesday, July 10, following a lengthy illness. He was born March 15, 1934, on the family farm north of Pollard and from those humble beginnings grew an empire in banking, business and agriculture...

It sounds like the dramatic climax to a work of fiction: a forensic anthropologist writes a book detailing some of the cases he's helped solve; the author includes a biographical chapter in the work only to be contacted later by long-lost siblings. Though such a premise may sound like a mystery thriller with a modern spin, it came to pass in 2007 for a group of siblings left scattered many years ago...

Former Clay County Circuit Clerk Pat Williams, who served five terms in office, died Sunday, July 15, at Landmark Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was 75. Williams, a native of Pocahontas, was first elected to office in 1992 and previously served as a deputy circuit clerk to Circuit Clerk Gary Magee. ...

Miss Pollard 2012 is Sydney Tarno of Piggott (center), the 16 year old daughter of Ashley Pollard and Chris Tarno. First alternate is Jess Scheffler of Piggott (right), the 16 year old daughter of Bradley Scheffler and Sandy Scheffler and the second alternate is Sadie Sawyers of Piggott (left), the 14 year old daughter of Chuck and Rachel Sawyers...

Dora B. Wooldridge, 86, of Piggott, Ark., passed away Monday, July 16, 2012, in the General Baptist Nursing Home in Piggott. She was born on July 18, 1925, in Indiana, and was the daughter of the late Dudley and Blanche Powers. She was preceded in death by her husband Joseph C. Wooldridge on January 23, 2002; and two children: Betty Cashion and Eugene Wooldridge...

Cynthia Sue Parrish, 68, of Rector passed away at the Rector Nursing and Rehab. She was born Dec. 30, 1943, to the late Orlie and Ruby (Chapman) Shaw in Rector. Preceding Sue in death were her husband, Larry Don Parrish; her parents, and two sisters, Quanda Bookout and Francell Midkiff...

Gaylon M. Lawrence, 78, of Vero Beach, Fla., formerly of Sikeston, died July 10, 2012, at the Baptist East Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. Born March 15, 1934, in Pollard, Ark., to the late David Monroe and Rita (Dees) Lawrence, he was a landowner and farmer, with ownership in various other businesses. ...

Martha Elizabeth Harris Garrard, age 80, died July 12, 2012 at MTMC. Mrs. Garrard was the daughter of the late John William and Emma Elizabeth (Potter) Harris. She was also preceded in death by her husband William Franklin Garrard. Mrs. Garrard is survived by her son David (Jennifer) Garrard of Murfreesboro; daughter Kathy (Kerry) Love of Cottontown, Tenn., Libby (Craig) Lokey of Suwanee, Ga., and Lisa (Jim) Luscinski of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; a brother Robert E.(Melva) Harris of Spring, Texas; grandchildren, Kristy Sharpton, Karen (Mitchell) Baker, Kerry Love, Jr., Lauren Lokey, Garrard Lokey, Reece Garrard, and Emma Claire Garrard and great grandchildren Cade Sharpton and Hensley Baker.. ...

Patricia Williams, 75, of Piedmont, Mo., formerly of Piggott, Ark., passed away Sunday, July 15, 2012, at Landmark Hospital in Cape Girardeau, Mo. She was born on November 19, 1936, in Pocahontas, Ark., and was the daughter of the late Ira Earl and Thelma Faye (Hunsaker) Johnson...

Peggy Lou Neeley, 74, of St. Francis, Ark., passed away Thursday, July 12, 2012, in the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro, Ark. She was born on April 13, 1938, in Clay County, Ark., and was the daughter of the late Robert Aaron and Hammie (Sarver) Province...

Ms. Eva Smart, 81, of Jonesboro, our loving mother and grandmother, went to be with the Lord on Friday, July 13 at St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. Ms. Smart was born in McDougal, on July 26, 1930 the daughter of J. F. and May Parrish. She was a homemaker and beautician. She enjoyed reading, sewing and spending time with family and friends. She was a member of the Boydsville Missionary Baptist Church...

Velma Mae Pritchard, 92, of Piggott, Ark., passed away July 12, 2012, at the St. Bernard's Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro, Ark., surrounded by her family. She was born on September 19, 1919, in Pollard, Ark., and was the daughter of the late Louis and Lula Mae (Hogard) Settlemoir...

Frances Elizabeth Elliott, 95 of Rector, died on Thursday, July 12, at Piggott Community Hospital. Mrs. Elliott was born Jan. 7, 1926 in Rector, to Lawrence and Georgia Miller. She was a homemaker. Survivors include one son, Patrick Miller of Rector; a daughter, Christina Damron of Wynne; a brother, Teddy Joe Miller of Arnold, Mo.; three sisters, Margie Fish of Oakville, Mo.; Marcell Raney of Arnold, Mo. ...

Jewel O. Crawford, 95 of Rector, died on Wednesday, July 11, 2012 at the St. Bernard Regional Medical Center in Jonesboro. Mrs. Crawford was born on January 4, 1917 in Rector to Tom and Ada Meredith. She was a homemaker and a teacher, and a member of the First General Baptist Church of Rector. She was married to Howard Crawford on Dec. 4, 1937 and he preceded her in death...