Randall Maurice Kerr, 62, of White Hall, passed away Tuesday, June 5, 2018.
Born February 11,1956in Little Rock, Arkansas, he was a son to the late Maurice Kerr and Bobbie Ann Wimberly.
Randall was reared in Pine Bluff and attended Pine Bluff High School before enlisting in the United States Army National Guard, from which he retired in 1998.
An avid lover of animals, Randall would often take in strays or even domesticate farm or wild animals. At one time he was known to have a pet bobcat, he took in at other times a goat, cow, and baby deer. He was just a kind-hearted man who loved his family and making them laugh just to see the smiles on their faces.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his son, Justin Kerr.
He is survived by his loving wife, Belinda Kerr; step-father, Randolph “Rudy” Atherley; children, Brandy Ostrus (Sean), Courtney Meredith (Brian), Katina Priest (Doyan), Joseph Hill (Kelly) and David Cheney (Stacy); 9 grandchildren and onegreat grandchild.
Services will be 11:00 a.m.MondayJune 11,2018in the Chapel of Cranford Funeral Home in White Hall. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. Burial will follow at Hardin Cemetery.
Online Condolences: www.cranfordfh.com
Juanita Bankston
Juanita Parker Bankston 76, of Pine Bluff passed May 31, 2018. Celebration of Life will be Saturday 10:00a.m. at New Morning Star Baptist Church with Rev. Rickey Mays officiating. Interment will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery by Paradise Funeral Home of Pine Bluff.
Family Hour/ Visitation will be Friday from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at Paradise Funeral Home
“Only Paradise Can Serve You Better!”
Rayshonda Roberts
Arlington, Texas - Rayshonda Roberts 21, of Arlington passed May 31, 2018. Celebration of Life will be Saturday 2:30p.m. at First Missionary Baptist Church with Apostle Sylvester Lafayette officiating. Interment will be Forest Lawn Cemetery by Paradise Funeral Home of Pine Bluff.
Family Hour/ Visitation will be Friday from 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Paradise Funeral Home
“Only Paradise Can Serve You Better!”
Rosie Ghere
Star City - Rosie Mae Ghere 66, of Star City passed June 4, 2018. Celebration of Life will be Friday 12:00 Noon at Mt. Bayou M.B. Church with Rev. Layfette Woods officiating. Interment will be in Bayou Meta Cemetery by Paradise Funeral Home of Pine Bluff
“Only Paradise Can Serve You Better!”
Cornelious Harris, Sr.
Mr. Cornelious W. "Buster" Harris, Sr., 89, of Pine Bluff, AR passed Thursday, May 31, 2018. He was born in Altheimer, AR to the late Hosea Harris and Lenora Trent.
He is survived by:Four Sons, Cornelious Harris, Jr. of San Leandro, CA, Michael Harris of Pine Bluff, AR, Cornell Harris of Richmond, CA and Andy Harris of Pine Bluff; One Daughter, Jeannie Epperson of Pine Bluff, AR; One Sister, Darlene Harris of Vancouver, WA; 18 Grandchilden; 21 Great-Grandchildren.
Funeral Service will be 10:00 a.m., Saturday, June 9, 2018 at Brown Funeral Home by Rev. Terrance Williams. Interment will be in Gethsmane Cemetery in Gethsmane, AR.
Visitation will be Friday, 5:30-6:30 p.m., at Brown Funeral Home.
His body will lie in-state Saturday, 9:15 a.m., until service.
www.brownfuneralhomeandmortuary.com
Hattie Baker
Mitchellville - Mrs. Hattie Bell Baker, 88, of Mitchellville, AR passed Wednesday, June 6, 2018. Arrangements will be announced by Brown Funeral Home of Dumas, AR.
Walter May, Sr.
Rev. Walter C. May, Sr., 80, of Pine Bluff, AR passed Saturday, June 2, 2018. He was born on Wednesday, November 10, 1937 in Macon, MS to the late Mason May and Lizzie Young May.
He leaves to cherish his memories to: His Wife, Hilda Botley May of Pine Bluff, AR; Two Sons, Walter C. May, Jr. of Cypress, TX and Arnett R. May of Memphis, TN; One Daughter, La'Leata Westbrook of Alexander, AR; Five Brothers, Pless May, Edward May, Paul May, Andrew May, and Bruce May all of St. Louis, MO; Nine Grandchildren.
Home-Going Service will be 1p.m., Saturday, June 9, 2018 at Kings Highway Missionary Baptist Church by Rev. Brian Castle. Interment will be in Graceland Cemetery, Southwood Section by Brown Funeral Home of Pine Bluff, AR.
Visitation will be Friday, 5:30-7 p.m., at Kings Highway M.B. Church.
www.brownfuneralhomeandmortuary.com
Patricia Maynard
Patricia Anne (Granny) Maynard, 77 of White Hall, Arkansas passed from this life on June 6, 2018. She was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on July 20, 1940 to the late Calvin and Nadine Perry. Patricia loved her family and being a home maker.
She is also preceded in death by her granddaughter, Samantha Jacks and a sister, Joan Cooper. Patricia is survived by her husband of 58 years, Garland Maynard; four children, Tanya Jacks, Tim Maynard (Peggy), Todd Maynard, Chassa Maynard (Tommy); grandchildren, Stephanie Jacks (John Elliott), Brittany Raburn (Erich), Tyler Maynard; great-grandchildren, Corinne Fowler, Hayden Jackson, Daphne Elliott, Kylie Raburn, Dexter Elliott; son in law Doug Jacks and a host of other family and friends.
Arrangements have been entrusted to A Natural State Funeral Service in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Online guestbook, www.anaturalstatefuneralservice.com
Ollie Barron
Mrs. Ollie Maurice Barron, the 8th of Oscar and Ella Robinson Thomas’s 10 children, was born on December 26, 1918 in Dixie, Georgia on the family’s large farm. It was there that she learned how to do some of everything—- from growing vegetables, making sausages, marketing watermelons, milking cows, taking corn to the mill to be ground into cornmeal, andmaking syrup out of the sugarcane juice. This background always led her to believe that there wasn’t anything that she could not do if she wanted to do it.
Her parents instilled in her a love of God, a strong work ethic, and a compassion for others. She was filled with pride when her family was chosen as the “Family of the Year” in 1938.
After she graduated from Brooks High School, her parents sent her to Savannah, GA to attend Georgia State University for 2 years. With this amount of education, she was permitted to teach in the Brooks County Elementary School. During the summers, she went to Atlanta to take special courses at the Atlanta University. During her time spent there, she met and later married L. B. Barron.
When he was employed to teach chemistry courses at Arkansas A.M. & N. College ( UAPB), they moved to Pine Bluff, AR where she continued her studies and earned a B.S. degree in Elementary Education in 1950. Later on, she earned a Master’s degree in Elementary Education in 1957 from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
While she was studying, she was also teaching, starting with the teaching of math courses for veterans, followed by working for 32 years in the Pine Bluff School District at both Carver and Indiana Street Elementary Schools.
She was the mother of one daughter (deceased), Kathestelle, who brought her great joy, first by teaching at Arkansas Tech University in Russellville and later on Georgia State University and Georgia Perimeter College in Atlanta; and secondly, by making her a proud grandmother of Carmen and Andy Bryant, especially Carmen who has earned a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from Chatham University.
She has had a sustained interest in helping others over the years. This has been evidenced through the help she has given to her family, her St, Paul Missionary Baptist Church, her Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, her membership in the Alumni Chapter of UAPB, her community, and to the city of Pine Bluff. She always maintained that she was “just like Papa,” someone his community called for help during sickness and in times of need and trouble. She felt she was truly blessed with a caring heart.
Examples of this “caring heart” are reflected in the care she extended to helping with the education of her nieces, Dr. Margaret Clark of Fayetteville, AR, and Margaret Barron of Mississippi, and through the tireless work she gave for 49 years to fundraising for UAPB, and in her coordination of her Sorority’s Heart Fund Drive for 50 years, raising about $2,000 annually.
Because of her hard work as a volunteer in her community, she has received many honors and numerous awards, including the Keeper of the Spirit during the 123rd UAPB Founders Day Observance, an All Civic Night Award for her work in Human Relations from the Greater Pine Bluff Chamber of Commerce in 1987, and the Spirit Award from the local UAPB Alumni Chapter. Back in 1950, UAPB honored her as the Miss Alumni Queen and then later on named her a Woman of Distinction. St. Paul Baptist Church awarded her with a Distinguished Service Award in 2001. She was slated to be inducted into the UAPB Alumni Hall of Fame in November 2018.
At the age of 99, she was asked what she thought contributed to her longevity. She said that it was due to the goodness of God, her “Golden Lion” family, and the love and care of her own personal family.
The funeral services will be held at the chapel at PK Miller Mortuary on Saturday, June 9th at 10 am. The Visitation will take place Friday, June 8th at PK Miller from 5-7pm.
Shirley Tyler
Shirley Ann Tyler, 75, of White Hall, passed away Tuesday, June 5, 2018 in Little Rock. She was born November 20, 1942 in Pine Bluff to the late Tanner L. and Dorma Ray Hayden. Shirley received her education at Pine Bluff High School. She was a Baptist and was a homemaker, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
Also preceding her in death were her husband, Jerry T. Tyler, whom she married in September 1960; and a sister, Lynda K. Hayden.
Survivors include 3 children, Terri Cook of Texas, Eddie(Stephanie) Tyler of White Hall, Mike (Eliza) Tyler of White Hall; son-in-law, Wayne Cook of White Hall; 7 grandchildren; 8 great grandchildren; and her loving nieces and nephews.
Graveside Services will be Saturday, June 9, 2018 at Orion Cemetery near Hensley, with Bro. Kenneth Swiger officiating. Visitation will be 6:00-8:00PM Friday at Cranford Funeral Home in White Hall.
Online registry at www.cranfordFH.com.
Marvin Reeves
Marvin Leo (Sunny) Reeves, 62 of Pine Bluff passed May 31, 2018 in Little Rock. Born February 25, 1952 in Faith, Ark. to the late Willie and Icyrene Bester Reeves.
He served in the United States Army with a tour of duty in Vietnam.
Survivors include four sons, Marvin Leo Reeve, Jr., Edward R. Reeves, Daniel Underwood Reeves and Jarrett Reeves all of Pine Bluff; two daughters, LaVonya R. Reeves of Houston, Texas and Michelle Davison of Miami, FL; brother, John A. Reeves of Rison; three sisters, Willie Mae Cooper of Pine Bluff, Joann Bell of Rison and Linda Sue Blevins of San Antonio, Texas; 14 grandchildren and a great-grandchild.
Funeral services will be at 1 P.M., Saturday at Mt. Zion Baptist Church at Faith by Rev. Lloyd A. Holcomb, Jr. Burial will be in Graceland Cemetery by Henson-Holcomb Mortuary.
Visitation will be from 5-7 P.M. today at the Mortuary.
