Obituaries

Christina Doyle Spear

Photo of Christina Doyle Spear
Christina Doyle Spear, 95, of Little Rock, Arkansas, died May 24, 2012, at Hospice Home Care. She was born October 12, 1916, to Charles Edgar and Sarah Whitten Doyle, and raised with her younger brother, C.E. Doyle, Jr., in Pangburn (White County). Christina graduated cum laude from Oauchita College in 1937 with a Bachelor of Science degree. After graduation she taught high school chemistry, home economics, and health sciences first at Dell and then at Augusta, Arkansas. During World War II, she was the director of food service at Oauchita College. She later served her dietetic internship at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Alabama in 1948. She stayed on to do research in nutrition education through a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. Among her dietetics positions were nutritionist at the Arkansas State Board of Health, clinic dietitian at VA Hospital in Little Rock and Little Rock Diagnostic Clinic, therapeutic dietitian at St. Vincent's Infirmary, and nutrition instructor at St. Vincent's Infirmary School of Nursing. She also taught the required course in nutrition to incoming med students and interns at the University of Arkansas Medical Center. At the end of her career, she made home visits to patients and their families throughout southeast Arkansas as the dietitian for the VA Hospital's Hospital-based Home Care program. A member of Second Baptist Church for 63 years, Christina taught Sunday School classes, was a choir mother, and organized the homebound department. She was proud of her membership in the 1958-1963 Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools, which worked to integrate the Little Rock public schools. She was a member of the Arkansas and American Dietetic Associations, and served as president of the Little Rock chapter of the American Business Women's Association, which elected her their Woman of the Year in 1976. After retiring in 1982, she had more time to explore her varied interests. She attended numerous Elderhostel programs in the U.S. and Great Britain. Writing classes at the Shepherd Center taught by Evalena Berry inspired her to write about her life, and in her eighties, Christina published these pieces as a book, Something Money Can't Buy, sales of which benefitted the White County Historical Society. The book, which chronicled a way of life that no longer existed, became available in public libraries throughout White County. She had made quilts throughout her life, the first at age five, and in retirement took classes with master quilters and made many more. She was a member of the Gilbert Marshall Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution and her ancestors donated the land for the first state college in the Continental Colonies, which later became the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The widow of Melvin Lee Spear, who died in 1972, Christina is survived by her daughters, Melanie Spear of New York City and Diane Spear Puglisi of New York City, son-in-law, Robert Puglisi of New York City, grandchildren, Philip Puglisi of Stamford, CT, and Lauren Puglisi of New York City, as well as six of her eight nieces and nephews, many grand- and great-grandnieces and nephews, numerous cousins, and her "sister-by-choice" Lou Bradford. A memorial service will be held at Second Baptist Church, 222 East 8th Street, Little Rock, Ark., on Saturday, June 2, 2012 at 2 p.m., with Drs. Ray Higgins and James Thomason officiating. Immediately following the memorial service, there will be a reception in the church's fellowship hall. Arrangements are by Roller-Chenal Funeral Home, (501) 224-8300. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Arkansas Foodbank, 4301 West 65th Street, Little Rock, Ark. 72209, or the Humane Society of Pulaski County, 14600 Colonel Glenn Road, Little Rock, Ark. 72210. The family wishes to thank Christina's many relatives and friends for their calls, correspondence, and visits; the members of Second Baptist Church for their spiritual support of Christina and the family; Beverly and Jimmy Williams of Shepherd's Cove for their love and kindness during the years Christina was a resident there; and cardiologist James Kane, M.D., for his compassionate medical care and friendship. Online guestbook: www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/chenal.

Published May 30, 2012

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