| Miriam Davis Cother | Helen Eva Lee Heffington | Ella Estella Williams | Dawell Edward Jones | Myrtle Dokes |
Optimism was her credo, and she insisted on living in the present rather than dwelling on the past.
So at age 98, Miriam Davis Cother bought herself a pretty new suit and remarked to family members: "This will do me for the next five years."
"I think she thought she would live forever." said her daughter, Gloria Ponder of North Little Rock.
Mrs. Cother died on Tuesday, Nov. 10, of congestive heart failure, almost six months to the day after her 100th birthday.
She was born May 13, 1898, the oldest of five children of a farming couple who lived near Aberdeen, Miss. She learned early that the hardships in life can be offset by the support of a large, close-knit family, and she reveled in the fun times she had with her many cousins who lived nearby.
A woman ahead of her time, she attended Mississippi State College for Women for two years and studied business, then took a job with the U.S. Post Office. But soon thereafter, she married her childhood friend, Gene Cother, and the couple began their own farming life together.
But the Great Depression would force the young couple to leave the farm in search of a better financial foundation to raise their four children.
"They loaded up the whole family like in "The Grapes of Wrath" heading off to the Promised Land," recounted her son-in-law, Carl Runyon, who met his wife Myra through Mrs. Cother.
But even of those times, she always looked on the bright side and in her latter years would say of the 1930s, "At least we had it easier than people up north, because we could grow more food."
The Cothers never made it to the Pacific coast as they had hoped, but instead came to Little Rock in 1934 to buy and manage a grocery store on West Second Street.
Around 1940 they bought the Sunnyside Grocery on Main Street in North Little Rock and moved into the living quarters below which were built on a hillside overlooking a big backyard.
The store was a family enterprise, recalls her daughter Gloria. Mr. Cother was "the planner and builder, and we kids, as soon as we got big enough to reach the cash register, [our parents] taught us to make change," She recalled.
Mrs. Cother helped manage the store and kept the books, skills she would find useful later when she began a new life in the 50s, as a divorced woman faced with supporting herself. The she managed the state headquarters of the Christian Churches of Arkansas.
"She responded with courage when changes came her way," said her daughter, Myra Runyon."She just looked at the circumstances facing her, figured out a plan, and expected things to work out."
Mrs. Cother's reliance in herself and faith in a caring, responsive universe found spiritual fulfillment in the Unity Church, which she helped establish in Little Rock in the 1950s..
She served on its board of directors, taught classes and attended services up to two years ago.
"Young children seemed to take a fancy to her, called her 'Miss Miriam' and loved to celebrate her birthday," said the Rev. Douglas Quimble, pastor of the Unity Church.
She encouraged others to develop an independent, positive outlook, lived by that approach and worked as a volunteer on a mental health crisis phone line when she was 72.
"She was very nurturing, yet discouraged dependency," recalled Carl Runyon, a retired psychotherapist and her trainer for the program, which was sponsored by the First Methodist Church of Little Rock. "She would have made a good therapist."
At the time, Runyon says, he was in the throes of a divorce, and he and Mrs. Cother spent many hours talking.
"I was feeling very low," Runyon recalled. "But she wouldn't let me feel sorry for myself. I remember her telling me once, 'If you want to feel sorry for yourself, go ahead, but I'm going to have a cup of tea, then we can watch the sunset.'"
Besides her two daughters and son-in-law, Gloria Ponder, and Myra and Carl Runyon, Mrs. Cother is survived by one son and daughter-in-law, Don and Ann Cother; a brother and sister-in-law Agnes Davis, all of North Little Rock; a sister, Ella Davis Young, of Ferriday, La.; 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by a daughter, Sara Cother Tarver; a brother, W. Crawford Davis; and a sister, Frances Davis Harding.
A memorial service, conducted by Rev. Douglas Quimby and Rev. Garnet Quimby, will be held at 11:30 Sunday at Unity Church in Little Rock.
The family requests that memorials be made to Unity Church or to a favorite charity.;
The Times 11/19/1998
By Brendan O'Reilly
She grew up when times were lean and life was tough, but Helen Eva Lee (Sanders) Heffington would live the rest of her life trying to give her children and grandchildren whatever they needed and wanted most.
"She didn't spoil us, but she tried to get us the kind of clothes we wanted and she wanted us to be happy," said her son Chuk Heffington.
Mrs. Heffington, who had bypass surgery nine years ago, died of a heart attack Oct. 17 at the age of 81.
Born in 1917, the daughter of two cotton farmers in Enola who also had a few cows, she attended school only through the ninth grade.
Th then it was the middle of the Depression, but her son says her family "survived the Great Depression because they probably didn't know there was one- they were all very poor anyway. The Depression didn't make them more poor than they already were."
The youngest in the family, Mrs. Heffington "got along pretty well with her two brothers," her son Chuck said. But her mother died at about age 49 when Mrs. Heffington was still a young woman and she refused to let that stymie her energy and development.
Still it wasn't until the tail-end of the Depression that she married her childhood sweetheart, Lawrence Burgess Heffington, also of Enola. "She married the man she wanted, I reckon," her son said.
And soon she began studying with the Church of Christ that her young husband had been raised in, deciding she could agree with its tenets and remaining to them until her death. At the time of her death, she was a member of the Levy church of Christ.
The couple would live happily-though sparsely-in Enola until he was called to serve in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II, and she, with her beloved overseas for three years and three months, moved to Jacksonville to work in the munitions factory.
"She rode a bus to work," said Chuk Heffington. "She must have lived with some friends near Jacksonville."
Soon she was moving to San Antonio, Texas, where her husband, an infantryman in the South Pacific, had been sent to recover from a bayonet wound suffered at the hands of a Japaneses soldier.
Their stay in San Antonio was brief though, as Enola's good farmland beckoned the couple's return to the homeland.
But even after the war, times were tough in Enola. So the family moved to Alexander in 1956 and then to Ward in the late 1950's where her husband ran a general store.
In 1960, the couple moved their family to North Little Rock where he found a job at the Jeffrey Stone Co., where he stayed until his retirement in 1969. He died six years later, and she never remarried.
While he did manual labor at the Stone Co., Mrs. Heffington worked as nurse's aide at what is now Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock.
"She was always buying me things with the money she made from working at the hospital," her son recalled.
But she was always fair in giving things equally to all her kids and later her grandkids.
"Her three grandchildren were all she ever talked about," Chuk Heffington said.
But then, that wa how she viewed her role. "She was a great mother," her son noted. "She took us to church every Sunday and made sure we knew the difference between right and wrong. She was also a good cook...And I sure did like her bundt cake."
She is preceded in death by her husband, two brothers and her parents.
Besides her son of North Little Rock, she is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Sandra and Jim Dodson of Conway; and three grandchildren. Funeral services were held Tuesday, Oct. 20, at North Little Rock Funeral Home Chapel.
Burial followed in Edgewood Memorial Park.
The Times Oct. 22, 1998
ELLA ESTELLA WILLIAMS
She valued a good day's work enough to stay employed well past the time when most would retired. She was an avid hunter and fisherwoman who lived the outdoors. But most of all,, family members say, Ella Estelle "Billie" Williams was a passionate believer in the importance of family and friends and lived her life that way.
Mrs. Williams died Wednesday, Nov. 17, 1999 of cardiac arrest at her home in North Little Rock. She was 78.
Born in Calhoun, Ga., the oldest of three daughters of a construction worker and his wife, Mrs. Williams and her sisters, Virginia Ghent and Liz McMahon, both of North Little Rock, spent their childhoods moving from one rural outpost to another, including one village in Mexico, wherever their father could find work.
It was a hard life, and times were tough, but the family learned to pull together, her son said.
"She used to say she could read a newspaper through the walls of [one of their] houses, that's how people lived back then," recalled her son Raymond Calhoun of North Little Rock.
But Mrs. Williams was strong willed, too, a tomboy at heart who loved to fish and hunt with her Dad, which explains why he dubbed her "Billie," a nickname that stuck with her for the rest of her life, said her sister Liz McMahon.
"She was never one to play with dolls, she would rather have a gun," McMahon said.
She went to school only through the ninth grade in Ione, Ark. (south of Booneville) where she enjoyed playing basketball.
"In those days, it was too far to go to high school so she stopped in the ninth grade," her son explained.
But Williams loved basketball so much that she asked to repeat the ninth grade just so she could play one more season. And the school let her.
In 1940 she married William Walsh Calhoun, a construction worker, and began moving around all over again, this time to wherever her husband could find work.
But raising four sons and working at several jobs at the same time, Mrs. Williams always took life's struggles in stride, her family said.
"She would marry several times over the years, but her own strong sense of independence was a pillar that kept the family together and taught her sons self reliance and confidence.
"She taught us to stand on our own two feet and not to be afraid to work," Calhoun said.
Eventually she would settle her family in North Little Rock, where all of her sons graduated from high school, a feat she stressed as vital to their world.
She also fostered in her sons a love of the outdoors. "She loved spending Thanksgiving in the deer woods with her family and friends, she would start baking the week before," Calhoun said. And invariably she got requests to bring along her special peanut butter cookies.
"When everyone heard she was coming to the woods, they would all ask her to make those cookies. She said she had a secret recipe and she would never give it to anyone," McMahon said.
In her spare time she was fond of working in her yard, looking after her dog, Mitsy and generally taking joy in the natural beauty of all living things around her, family members said.
"She would take in any stray dog, cat or human that she found at her door, she loved caring for others and doing for others, even before doing for herself," said her son.
After her first retirement, Williams disliked idly collecting social security and took a job as a night security guard at the Willow House senior citizen apartment complex. She would work there from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m., family members said, but then she would come back during the day to help the residents.
"The women there would often ask her to get them groceries and give her $10. And so she would work all night and then come back the next day with much more than what $10 could buy at the store. That's just the way she was, helping others whenever she could," her son said.
And as the family gathered after her death, sorting through her albums and envelopes full of pictures and other mementos she has saved as the unofficial family historian, her collection only seemed to underscore what joy she had also taken in all of them.
"She kept things I never even knew of like my first pair of glasses from 1945," said her son Raymond.
"Mothers aren't supposed to die, they're supposed to live forever and I guess in some way they do."
Besides her sisters and son Raymond, she is survived by three other sons, Jerry Wayne Calhoun, Kenneth Dale Calhoun, and Dwight Allen Calhoun all of North Little Rock; seven grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Funeral services were held in the North Little Rock Funeral Home chapel with Rev. Jerry Meeks officiating. Burial was in the Henderson Cemetery in Pangburn, Arkansas.
The Times - Nov. 25, 1999
When asked to describe Dawell Edward Jones, family members like to tell how he explained one of his most characteristic features to children.
Mr. Jones had an indentation in his forehead, the remnant of sinus surgery performed when he was in his 20s.
But whenever one of his grandchildren would inquire about it, he would tell them that the mark was the result of getting shot by an arrow while playing "cowboys and Indians" as a child.
With a sly grin, he would add that the arrow entered through his head and exited via his belly button.
Family members say this playful fib was typical of the remarkable zest and humor with which Mr. Jones approached life.
He died of complications from heart surgery at St. Vincent's Infirmary on Feb. 11. He was 85.
"He was just so much fun," said his daughter Dalrene Hinson of North Little Rock. "He never met a stranger; he just seemed to attract people."
The oldest of three children of a railroad worker/carpenter, he was born in North Little Rock on Feb. 15, 1911.
He had to grow up in a hurry, as his father died when Mr. Jones was on 13, forcing him to become his family's primary breadwinner.
To that end, he took a job as a messenger boy with Missouri Pacific Railroad, where he would work until his retirement in 1975.
In his years in between, he would also serve as a brakeman and finally as a switchman, making sure the cars of incoming trains were routed to their proper final destination.
His household began to take shape in his mid-teens, when he met his future wife, Irene Shipman, a neighbor at the time. Romance blossomed, and the two were married on Nov. 2, 1935.
They would stay in North Little Rock and raise two sons and a daughter-a latter of which Mr. Jones delivered himself.
[My dad's] strong, gentle hands brought me into the world," his daughter said." And I can never remember those hands being raised against me or my brothers. He was the best, so fun, and always there for us."
The portrait of htis gentle and gregarious soul was echoed in the touching eulogy written by his grandchildren and great-granddaughter Janice Skiles in honor of the man they all knew as "Pee Paw."
"Pee Paw was fun. He took us to the Grand Ole Opry, Dogpatch, Opryland, and Disney World," Skiles told the funeral audience. "He was the rider of roller coasters, [with a] banshee scream like no other. He could hunt deer and eat sardines with the guys and then go hang out at the mall with us girls, watching 'all the funny looking people."
She added, "he played badminton with us and shot fireworks with us. He was the grandfather some can only read about."
As a labor of love for his family, Mr. Jones built a new family home on Louise Street in 1958. Always the handyman, he designed the plans and did much of the manual labor.
"He was a jack of all trades," Hinson said. "He could build anything...our family called him the 'Renaissance Man.;"
In addition to the family home, he build numerous pieces of furniture and a cabin at his beloved Smead Deer Camp north of Camden.
He also loved working on Chevrolets, his favorite make of car. "If something on the car was broke, he was there with something to fix it," Hinson said.
He also loved to head off to the deer woods in his blue pickup or load the car with children and, in later years, grandchildren and great-grandchildren and go trout fishing on the Red River.
"He taught us the joy of being outdoors," she said in her eulogy. "The memories from the river would fill volumes."
He was a 32nd degree Mason, a member of Central Baptist Church and part of Bill Ewton's Sunday school class.
He is survived by his wife; his daughter and her husband, Dalrene and Jerry Hinson of North Little Rock; two sons and their wives, James and Frances Jones of Heber Springs and Robert and Mabel Jones of Cabot; one brother, Donald Jones of Heber Springs; one sister, Evelyn Sirmans of North Little Rock; nine grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held on Feb. 13 at Central Baptist Church with Dr. Brian Webb officiating. Interment was in Edgewood Memorial Park.
The family requests that memorials be made to the Central Baptist Church Building Fund.
The Time's - Feb. 20, 1997
Whenever friends or family members needed words of encouragement or a shoulder to cry on, Myrtle Dokes was there.
"People would call her, and she would always listen to your problems and help you out. Usually she would give you a passage from Scripture to read," said her daughter, Nine Parker of Sherwood. "Everyone leaned on her friends, children, grandchildren, everyone."
Mrs. Dokes died Friday, Mar 7, of heart failure at the age of 83.
The youngest of 10 children, she had lived her entire life in North Little Rock, Joining First Baptist Church at age 12, and remaining faithful and active in that congregation for the rest of her life.
She was a member of the church's choir for more than 50 years and often sang solos during Sunday services. "She had a beautiful singing voice," her daughter Nina said.
At age 18, she married Walter Dokes of Louisiana, who worked for many years at the H.W. Tucker construction company. The couple had 10 children.
"She was like a mother to everyone she came into contact with," said the Rev. WIlliam L. Robinson, pastor of First Baptist. "She was a great person, a unique person, and an inspiration to all who came into contact with her."
She was active in the North Little Rock City Mission and the Union District Women's Association, organizations affiliated with the city's Baptist churches that raise money for church and school projects as well as for needy families.
And family members say her faith played an important role in both her daily regimen and her optimistic approach to life.
"She was a student of the Bible. She read it all the time, and she could quote Scripture," her daughter Nina said. "And she always taught us that there was nothing we couldn't do, that we could be anything that we wanted to be."
To support her children's pursuits and goals, Mrs. Dokes was active in the George Washington Carver Elementary School PTA, serving for a time as its president.
In her spare time she loved to cook and was renowned especially for cakes and lemon pies, her daughter Nina said.
"We've lost a great member. I'm deeply saddened, but she has left behind a beautiful family. Even when her health failed, she always remained strong," said the Rev. Robinson.
"She taught us respect and compassion for other people," added her daughter, Mary Rideout of North Little Rock. "Regardless of who they were, she taught us to respect their ideas and opinions."
Besides her two daughters Nina Parker and Mary Rideout survivors include her husband of 65 years; four sons, Emmuriel Dokes Sr. and Carl Dokes, both of Little Rock; Ret. Senior MSgt. Edward Dokes of San Antonio and Dr. Limuel Dokes of Detroit; and two other daughters, Marion Dokes, and Carol Bivens, all of North Little Rock; 21 grandchildren; 13 great-grandchildren; and five great-great grandchildren.
Funeral services were held on Saturday, March 15, at First Baptist Church with the Rev. Robinson officiating.
Interment was at Haven of Rest Cemetery in Little Rock.
The Times - March 20, 1997