| Virginia Cochran Russell | Herman Leslie Steen | Frances Barron Reid | Casper William Uekman | Sue Means Beach |
By Cary Bradburn
A star basketball player in her younger days and a sports fan all her life, Virginia Cochran Russell closely followed the Arkansas Razorbacks and Central Arkansas Bears.
On several autumn Saturdays, when her favorite teams' schedules dictated, she would drive to Fayetteville to see the Hogs play in the afternoon and then beeline it back to Conway to catch a UCA night game.
In 1994, she and Louise Bowker motored their way to Charlotte,N.C., and the Final Four to watch the Razorbacks win the NCAA title in basketball.
She had that kind of zest for life, wanting to take it all in, her daughter-in-law Beverly Russell said.
Virginia Russell died Friady after a prolonged illness.
Her husband John Russell founded Russell Chevrolet and Honda, which is now run by her son Bob Russell and others in the family who contribute in management positions.
"Avid" best describes her attitude about the Razorbacks, Beverly Russell said of her mother-in-law. She attended nearly every Arkansas game in football and basketball, passing on her love of the Hogs to her sons, especially Bob who now serves as chairman of the five-member public facilities board that is overseeing construction and operations of the 18,000 seat arena that will be built on East Broadway and attract big time college basketball.
But while a fan in her adult years, Mrs. Russell was a terrific athlete in her own right whose athleticism didn't diminish until a car accident at Grants, New Mexico, in 1963 severed a leg.
She stared for Arkansas State Teachers College (now UCA) where she graduated and later played on the Lewis-Norwood Insurance Agency championship national AAU team that featured Hall of Fame player Hazel Walker.
Few people knew she was an amputee, Beverly Russell noted. Always genteel, she walked with a cane and never let on about the nerve pain evident in a slight limp.
But it never slowed her down or stopped her from traveling, which she did extensively, taking trips to Russia, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia as well as all over the United States.
"Anyone who ever spent any time with her came away thinking what a remarkable lady she was," Beverly Russell said.
And she could fix anything, her daughter-in-law said. She installed her own garbage disposal, painted and refinished furniture, and knitted clothing including coats and sweaters. One of her major projects was weaving an Oriental Rug. Her major in college was home economics.
"If there was something to be done, she would figure out how to do it," Beverly Russell said.
Survivors are her husband John Russell, Daughter Renee Wright of Russellville; two sons Bob and Rick, both of North Little Rock; seven grandchildrn and five great-grandchildren.
She was a member of First United Methodist Church of North Little Rock, The Department Club of Little Rock, the Wednesday Book Club of Little Rock and the Little Rock Razorback Club.
The Times - June 12, 1997
HERMAN LESLIE STEEN
Herman Leslie Steen Sr. of North Litle Rock, an outgoing and enterprising mechanic who ran a successful sewing machine sales and repair shop in Little Rock for many years, died Sunday, June 1, following a lengthy battle with lung cancer. He was 85.
Born on a farm in Billstown in Pike County, the oldest of five children, Mr. Steen moved to Central Arkansas when he was about 20, working as a machinist's helper for Beal-Gurrow Manufacturing and then as a machinist at Tuf Nut Manufacturing, a work clothes and uniform factory.
He joined the Navy in World War II and served three years in the Pacific, attaining the rank of First Class Petty Officer and serving in the Naval Construction Battalion during the invasion of Tarawa and the occupation of Japan.
After the war, he purchaed the City Sewing Machine Co. at Seventh and Center streets in Little Rock and built it into a successful sales and repair shop for, among other brands, Domestic and Pfaff machines for both industrial and home use.
In time he met his wife Charlotte, a lifelong North Little Rock resident, through a mutual friend, and the young couple settled in Park Hill, where they raised their son and helped start a community Presbyterian Church.
He would serve as an elder of Park Hill Presbyterian Church, as a commission and board member of Presbyterian Village Inc. and as a board member of the Good Shepherd Ecumenical Retirement Center Inc.
Last March, in tribute to his extensive church service, the original sanctuary of Park Hill Presbyterian Church, which was complete in 1948 and is now used as a meeting hall, was named the Herman L. Steen Fellowship Hall.
There, in 1953, Mr. Steen had helped organize Boy Scout Troop 53, which his son would join as soon as he was old enough. Eventually Mr. Steen also served on the board of Pulaski County Thunderbird District of the Boy Scouts.
He was a 32nd Degree Mason, Shriner, member of Crescent Lodge and charter member of the Sylvan Hills Country Club. But he also continued to repair sewing machines long after he sold his business in the late 1970s, because "he was a talented machinist who just liked selling things and he liked to be with people," his son said.
Still, family member say, he was happiest in his later years when he was either fishing for crappie and bream on Lake Catherine or doting on his two grandchildren, both grown adults now.
He was a past vice-commander of American Legion Post 99 and member of the Veterans of Foreigh Wars Post 2935.
Survivors include his wife, Charlotte Steen; son and daughter-in-law, H. Leslie and Judith Steen of Maumelle; a granddaughter Heather Steen of Little Rock; grandson and granddaughter-in-law, James Leslie and Heather Lynn Steen of Waco, Texas; a brother, Edward Steen of Little Rock; and a sister, Mrs. James Brooks of Russellville.
Funeral services were held Tuesday, June 3, at Park Hill Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Floyd Whatley officiating. Interment was in Oakland Cemetery. The family requests that memorials be made to Park Hill.....
The Times - June 12, 1997
FRANCES BARRON REID
Much in the story of Frances Barron Reid's life as a doting family member, homemaker and professional woman reflected her generous spirit and meticulous attention to detail, family member say.
"I don't know what we would have done without her," said her younger sister, Lorraine Doolittle, recalling the difficult Depression years, when their father, a railroad worker, was forced to move his family to Detroit in search of a job.
By then, Mrs. Reid, the third oldest child of the large Polish family was a young married woman, working as a bookkeeper at Pfeifer Department Store in Little Rock and often sent money and clothes to help her parents and her younger brothers and sisters.
We wouldn't have had any Christmas at all if it hadn't been for Frances," Doolittle said.
Seventy years have passed since those hard times, but Doolittle can still remember the beautiful Christmas packages from Arkansas that brightened the holidays for her and her three siblings.
"When she wrapped apresent it was out of this world," she said.
A resident of Park Hill for more than two decades who only six years ago decided to no longer live on her own and move to Riley's Oak Hill Manor in Little Rock, Mrs. Reid died Tuesday, March 23 after several years of declinging health. She was 92.
Born in North Little Rock on June 16, 1906, she was the second oldest daughter of Polish immigrants who had moved here from North Carolina just a few years earlier. Settling on Maple Street, near the railroad yard, Michael and Magdalen Barron had five daughters and five sons, two of whom died in infancy.
Mrs. Reid went to St. Mary's School until the eighth grade then worked for a short time as a clerk at the Woolworth's store, then in the 300 block of Main Street.
She married Earnest Lloyd Reid, a traveling salesman for J.B. Cook Auto Co. when she was 17 or 18, recalled Dolittle, and the couple moved to Little Rock about 10 years later.
Mrs. Reid took a job at Pfeifer's first as a clerk, then as a bookkeeper, a position she would hold until she retired at 65.
The Reids had no children and enjoyed time with family, close friends and travel, which included an occasional trip to the horse races at the Oaklawn track in Hot Springs.
After retirement, the Reids moved to Park Hill, and Mrs. Reid joined Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. There she would become a daily communicant for 20 years, receiving Mass every day, recalled her brother, James Barron of Little Rock.
She was similarly conscientious about the care of her lovely home on Randolph Street, recalled her sister.
"She didn't have a big, fancy place, but she had beautiful taste in furnishings, and it was always spotless," Doolittle said.
"Everything she tackled, she saw it through and did to perfection. She was the most determined and strong-willed of all of us."
Besides her brother and sister, Survivors include another sister, Anna Barron of North Little Rock and many nephews and nieces.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held Friday, March 26 at Immaculate Conception Church, with burial at Calvary Cemetery.
The family requests that memorials be made to Immaculate Conception Church, 7000 JFK Blvd., North Little Rock, 72116.
The Times - April 1, 1999
CASPER WILLIAM UEKMAN
Casper William "Bill" Uekman, described by loved ones as a man with a tireless work ethic and an unconquerable will to live, died on Monday, Dec.16, at University Hospital after a long battle with bone marrow cancer. He was 65.
The owner-manager of Bill's Office Furniture Co. on Mission Road, he forged a reputation as an honest, gentleman salesman with "very loyal customers," his sons said.
A North Little Rock native who grew up on Mission Road, he was the youngest child and only son of a farmer turned woodworker and scrap metal dealer.
As a boy, Mr. Uekman attended the St. Joseph's Orphanage school, where he was a hardworking and capable student and where he struck up lifelong friendships with two of the Benedictine Nuns who taught him.
"For the rest of his life, there was such happiness and warmth whenever he saw them," his wife Helen said.
He began the ninth grade at Catholic High, but dropped out before the year was over in order to support his family, first by breaking horses for the stables on Spriggs Road and then by working at General Wood Products in Little Rock where he learned the wood working craft. In 1949, he was hired by Dailey's Office Furniture as a cabinet maker.
In early 1952, in the midst of the Korean War, Mr. Uekman was drafted by the Army and sent to boot camp at Fort Bragg, Kan., where he quickly gained a reputation for being smart with his money. While most of his peers spent by Saturday the stipend they had received on Friday, Mr. Uekman saved his money, using it only to make loans to his friends for a dollar or two in appreciation payments. And soon he had enough to finance his wedding after boot camp to Helen Gershner, whom he had met at the Jim Roller Rink four years earlier.
The two were married at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, and a year and two assignments later, he left the service and returned to North Little Rock to resume his job at Dailey's and raise his family.
"He loved and cared deeply for all of his family. He thought the world of everybody-thought the world of his grandkids and daughter-in-laws," said his youngest son Dennis, who now manages the daily operation of the family store with his mother.
To provide for his wife and three sons, Mr. Uekman worked as often as he could at Dailey's and also did wood finishing and upholstery work on the side for extra money. By the time he left Dailey's to open Bill's Office Furniture in 1971, he had worked himself up to assistant manager.
"He put in 16-hour days all his life," Dennis said.
His own store opened in 1971 at the size of 5,000 square feet and would eventually expand to 20,000 square feet. Its first big job involved the renovation of Robinson Auditorium, which required removing, repainting, refinishing, reupholstering and then reinstalling the seats.
"It was quite an ordeal," his wife recalls.
In his spare time, Mr. Uekman loved to square dance with his wife and friends, joining the Twin City Stars square dance club that traveled around the state to perform. He also enjoyed an occasional hunting or fishing trip, and he devoted a lot of energy to the upkeep on some family property on Lake Conway.
"We'd all go up there and go fishing, and Dad would spend all of his time mowing the grass and what not. He quit going up there when there was no more work to do," his son Mike recalled.
He was an active member of St. Anne's Catholic Church, "always the one his peers would select if people wanted to go to or talk to the bishop," his son Gregory recalled.
In 1989, Mr. Uekman was diagnosed with cancer. Shortly thereafter, he retired from the store and gave up his beloved dancing. Nevertheless, he faced the disease with remarkable strength and dignity, exercising as long as he could on a stationary bicycle to maintain his strength.
"He never gave up hope. He was never a quitter," Dennis said.
"He really put the pain behind him in order to put people around him at ease," Gregory said. "I really, really admired his spirit."
But his real strength was his gentleness, Michael added, launching into the story about the day his father was mowing his dad's lawn and ran over a rabbit's nest.
One of the little rabbits ended up with a bloody nose, Michael said. So very carefully Mr. Uekman picked up the baby, got out his handkerchief and held it over the rabbit's nose until the bleeding stopped.
"He was a very generous man," Michael said.
Besides his wife and three sons, Mr. Uekman is survived by four grandchildren, Amanda, Tina, Adriane, and William, all of North Little Rock; four sisters, Evelyn Hulett of Gravel Ridge, Rose Hulett of North Little Rock, Mary Findley of Mayflower, and Dorothy Chadwick of Little Rock.
A Funeral Mass was held on Wednesday, Dec. 18., at St. Anne's Catholic Church with Father James Mancini officiating.
Burial was in Rest Hills Memorial Park.
The Times - December 26, 1996
North Little Rock High School English teacher Sue Means Beach wanted her students to think for themselves. She pushed her 11th graders to read Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead," a novel she loved for its message of non-conformity and the value of being a unique individual, and helped them become critical thinkers by frequently assigning essay writing, dreaded by many who complained that she was too strict, too tough.
"But many of those who complained came back years later to thank her for what she had taught them," recalled her daughter, Suzannah Christensen, a former student in the same school where her mother taught for eight years.
She was strict and detail-minded, confirmed Imogene Wetherington, who was a colleague of Mrs. Beach for more than 20 years and worked across the hall from her at West Campus since 1990. "But her students will remember her gentle manner and that she was a genuine person, real and fair."
Mrs. Beach, a teacher for North Little Rock schools for 28 years, died Wednesday, Jan. 13, after a battle with cancer. She was 58.
She was born in Little Rock to H.N. Means, an auto mechanic, and his wife, Wilma Kerschner, a school teacher, on Feb. 13, 1940. Her one sibling, brother H.N. Means III of Little Rock, remembers her as a quiet, but fun-loving girl with strong religious convictions.
After graduation from Little Rock Central High School, she attended Phillips University in Enid Oklahoma, which is affiliated with the Christian Church, of which she was a life-long member.
While completing her studies in religion and education, Mrs. Beach worked as a clerk in a local clothing store, where she met her future husband, David Beach, who lived in Enid and worked in the printing business.
After her graduation from Phillips, they married, around 1962, and settled in North Little Rock, and Mrs. Beach took a job teaching English at Ridgeroad Junior High School. The Beaches had two children, David and Suzannah, but their marriage ended in the mid 1970s.
Faced with supporting herself and her young children, Mrs. Beach returned to teaching, this time at Northeast High School and from 1990, she taught at North Little Rock High West Campus, where she taught American Literature to 11th graders.
Colleagues say they will remember her as "a person of great good humor" whose infectious smile conveyed her genuine caring for her students and coworkers. Even when she was very ill, she was thinking of others and would always say, "I'm fine, how are you," recalled friend and colleague, Berdell Ward.
She was a dedicated teacher - "one of the last ones to leave" each day, recalled one coworker - and she delighted in sharing with young people literature of all kinds - Shakespeare and American works from the Puritans to the 20th century, as well as writings by Native Americans.
"She loved her job and had a high sense of responsibility," said West Campus teacher Berdell Ward, who first met Mrs. Beach in the mid-1980s and remembered when she was selected to participate in a post-graduate program at American University in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 1984.
"Only 40 or 50 teachers from all over the country were picked to attend the very elite four week workshop on teaching Shakespeare" to high school students, Ward said. "The application process was very extensive and competitive. To be picked was a real honor."
Mrs. Beach was a private person who devoted much of her off work hours to reading students' work and preparing lessons, friends say. But in recent years, she also enjoyed antiquing with her daughter or outings with her grandchildren, who affectionately called her "Grandma Sue."
She also kept a garden outside her back door, where tomatoes, peppers and spices grew, and she tried her hand at crafts like papier mache and stenciling, something she put to use in decorating her refurbished kitchen after a fire that forced her to move to an apartment for a year while her North Little Rock home was rebuilt.
In the last few years, Mrs. Beach was confronted with so many difficulties, including the illnesses of both her parents, whom she cared for until their deaths, that some of her co-workers nicknamed her "Job," Ward recalled, "We all admired her. She always had a smile, never complained or felt sorry for herself."
Even in the hardest of times, such as the deaths of her parents, she found something to smile about, recalled her son, David.
"She would still be smiling, thinking about the good times and would find something to bethankful for," he said. Mrs. Beach is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, David and Kristen Beach of Little Rock; her daughter and son-in-law, Suzannah and Johnny Christensen of Little Rock; a brother, H.N. Means III, and his wife, Emily of Little Rock and four grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents.
A memorial service for Mrs. Beach was held Saturday, Jan. 16, at Park Hill Christian Church.
The family requests that memorials be made to Hospice Home Care and the American Cancer Society.
The Times-January 21, 1999