Obituaries

Emma Gene Allred

It is with sadness and a profound sense of loss that we announce the death of our beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother at the outset of her 96 year. Emma Gene was born in Arkadelphia, the middle of five children of Charles Morgan Clark and Emma Jett Clark. She is predeceased by her four remarkable siblings, Charles Morgan Clarke, Nancy Clark Thorpe, Martha Jane Clark Dickey and William Clark. Our childhood was regaled with tales of theirs. Surviving this, she obtained a B.A. from what was then Henderson College in 1938. Emma Gene met and married Owen Allred when they both were teaching school in Hope in 1938. Jim, their first child and only son was born in Hope in 1939. During the war they lived in Arkadelphia, where Gene Anne was born. After the war, Owen worked for the Soil Conservation Service, first in Mena, where daughters Nancy and Susie were born, later in Fort Smith, where their youngest daughter Laura was born, and then in Texarkana. After retirement they lived in College Station, Texas, Neosho, Mo. and finally in Rogers. Mom taught high school math in Fort Smith and Texarkana. She is predeceased by Owen, in 1992, and beloved daughter Nancy, in 2000. She resided for four happy years in The Meadows, in Bentonville, where she enjoyed warm friendships with her breakfast round table buddies and her Canasta friends. After a serious fall at the outset of 2011, she moved into The Maples to be near to Susie in Springdale. Our family is deeply grateful for the love, grace and good humor unfailingly shown her by the staff of The Meadows and of The Maples whom she loved and who treated her with such love and dignity. Our mother was a mine of practical skills and information. She remained our first source of advice about almost everything until the last few weeks of her life. Trained as a math teacher, she loved puzzles and games and was wonderfully skilled at them. When increasing blindness ultimately rendered playing bridge impossible, her remarkable memory enabled her to continue with Canasta and Bingo. She loved to read, even when finally forced to rely on talking books. She is our model for courage and fortitude, enduring and adapting to decades of increasingly crippling rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and macular degeneration without complaint. Emma Gene is survived by her children Jim Allred, Gene Anne and David Smith, Susie and Stephen Aldridge, and Laura and Steve Snider; grandchildren Erik Allred, Joshua Smith, Sarah Smith, Brian Dillon, Katie and Josh Wilson, Adam Hampton and Beth and Tanner Roberts; and great grandchildren Jude Allred, Emma and Deanna Ladouceur, Ryder Smith, Kyla Dillon, Caleb and Emma Wilson, and Makenna and Brynlee Roberts. These were her joy. They mourn her loss. A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m., Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel, Bella Vista, Ark. In lieu of flowers, the family would welcome donations to The Circle of Life Hospice, 901 Jones Road, Springdale, Ark. 72762, or to the Single Parent Scholarship Fund, 614 East Emma Ave., Suite 119, Springdale Ark. 72764. Arrangements have been entrusted to Stockdale-Moody Funeral Services of Rogers. Online condolences may be made to stockdalefuneral.com.

Published May 14, 2012

Upcoming Events