HOMER FORD - DON E. RILEY
1957
OBITS
WRITTEN BY : TINA EASLEY
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ar/county/greene/
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MONDAY , JANUARY 28, 1957 - THE PARAGOULD DAILY PRESS
69TH YEAR NO. 24
I RAN ACROSS THIS OLD PAPER AT A FLEA MARKET .
HOMER FORD 72 , SUCCUMBS
WIDLEY KNOWN TO NORTHEAST AREA
HOMER FORD , 72 , KNOWN AMONG BUSINESS FIRMS THROUGHOUT GREENE , CLAY AND MISSISSIPPI COUNTIES AS DISTRICT REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE ARKANSAS EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DIVISION , DIED SUDDENLY SUNDAY MORNING FROM A HEART ATTACK AFTER SLIPPING ON THE ICE-COVERED SIDE WALK IN FRONT OF HIS HOME AT 773 W. EMERSON.
MR. AND MRS. FORD WERE PREPARING TO ATTEND CHURCH SERVICES AT 9:45 SUNDAY MORNING AND HAD CALLED A TAXI BECAUSE OF THE ICEY CONDITIONS .
THEY WERE WAITING ON THE TAXI WHEN FORD TURNED , SLIPPED AND SUDDENLY COLLAPSED UNCONSCIOUS. HE WAS RUSHED TO COMMUNITY HOSPITAL IN THE TAXI BUT WAS PRONOUNCED DEAD ON ARRIVAL . THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN ATTRIBUTED THE CAUSE OF DEATH TO THE HEART ATTACK .
FORD WAS A NATIVE OF CARLYLE , ILL. BUT MOVED TO PARAGOULD FROM FREDERICKTOWN , MO. WITH HIS FAMILY AS YOUNG MAN IN 1906, HIS FATHER A.E. FORD SERVED AS PRESIDENT OF THE SECURITY BANK TRUST CO. FOR SEVERAL YEARS AND FORD HIMSELF WAS AN EMPLOYEE OF THE BANK BEFORE MOVING TO CALIFORNIA.
LATER HE RETURNED TO ARKANSAS AS A REPRESENTATIVE OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY DIVISION . FOR MANY YEARS HE RESIDED IN LITTLE ROCK, BUT RETURNED TO PARAGOULD 14 YEARS AGO DURING THE WAR AND ESTABLISHED HIS HEADQUARTERS HERE FOR THE THREE COUNTIES IN HIS DISTRICT.
HE WAS A MEMBER OF THE SECOND AND WALNUT CHURCH .
FUNERAL SERVICES WILL BE CONDUCTED AT MITCHELL'S TUESDAY AFTERNOON AT 2:30 BY TOMMY McLURE AND EMMITT SMITH . BURIAL WILL FOLLOW AT LINWOOD.
SURVIVING ARE HIS WIFE MRS. GLENN FLORA FORD , A SON JOE H. FORD OF NATIONAL CITY , CALIF. THREE DAUGHTERS MRS. [RESTON PATE OF MRMPHIS , MRS. C.L. GATES OF DARDNELLE , AND MRS. C.W. PARKERSON OF HOT SPRINGS , A SISTER MRS. LEONA BRAY OF WASHINGTON D.C. AND SIX GRANDCHILDREN .
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MONDAY , JANUARY 28, 1957 - THE PARAGOULD DAILY PRESS
69TH YEAR NO. 24
DON E. RILEY
74 , DIES
FOR 50 YEARS A RESIDENT HERE
DON E. RILEY 74 , A LONG TIME RESIDENT OF PARAGOULD AND WELL KNOWN GREENE COUNTY FIGURE DIED AT 6:10 SUNDAY MORNING AT COMMUNITY HOSPITAL AS THE RESULT OF LIVER AILMENT AND DOUBLE PNEUMONIA.
HE HAD BEEN IN FAILING HEALTH FOR THE PAST YEAR BUT BECAME CRITICAL ABOUT TWO MONTHS AGO.
RILEY FIRST MOVED TO PARAGOULD 50 YEARS AGO BUT RETURNED TO HIM HOME STATE OF TENNESSEE AFTER A BRIEF PERIOD . HE MOVED BACK TO PARAGOULD IN 1918 AND HAS LIVED HERE SINCE. HE FIRST OPERATED A GROCERY STORE , WHICH WAS LATER CHANGED TO A CAFE AND FOR THE PAST SEVERAL YEARS HAS BEEN KNOWN AS RILEY'S PIG STAND.
WHILE HE WAS STILL A YOUNG MAN IN TENNESSEE HE GAINED SOME EXPERIENCE IN WORK WITH FRUIT TREES AND LATER CONCEIVED THE IDEA OF OPERATING A NUSERY HERE. STUDING AND WORKING WITH EVERGREENS AN OTHER PLANTS , BEFORE HIS ILLNESS 14 YEARS AGO , HE HAD DEVELOPED HIS NURSERY BUSINESS AND INCLUDED LANDSCAPING AMONG HIS SERVICES .
A COLORFUL FIGURE AND A SELF EDUCATED MAN , RILEY WAS OUTSPOKEN ON ALL HIS VIEWS. HE SPONSERED MANY PROJECTS IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD AND WAS ONE OF THE LEADERS IN THE SUCCESSFUL DRIVE TO RAISE FUNDS FOR DREDGING THE EIGHT-MILE DRAINAGE DITCH INSIDE THE CITY LIMITS.
FUNERAL SERVICES ARE SCHEDULED FOR 2 O'CLOCK WEDENSDAY AFTERNOON AT HEATH'S WITH THE REV. JAMES POMROY OF BLYTHEVILLE OFFICIATING. BURIAL WILL BE AT LINWOOD.
SURVIVORS INCLUDE HIS WIFE MRS. MAUREEN RILEY , TWO SONS , LAVERL C. RILEY OF ECELSIOR SPRINGS , MO. AND ROBERT RILEY OF DENVER , COLO. TWO DAUGHTERS , MRS. LEENELL TEPPETT OF MEMPHIS , AND MRS. MILDRED VOLZ OF LOS ANGELES , CALIF. THREE BROTHERS , SAM RILEY OF PATTERSON , WILLIAM RILEY OF MEMPHIS AND JOE RILEY OF TENNESSEE , A SISTER MRS. GRACE KENNEDY OF NEWBERN , TENN. AND EIGHT GRANDCHILDREN AND TWO GREAT GRAND CHILDREN.
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MONDAY , JANUARY 28, 1957 - THE PARAGOULD DAILY PRESS
69TH YEAR NO. 24
JAMES SHEPPARD
FUNERAL SERVICES FOR JAMES HENRY SHEPPARD , RETIRED TIMBER MAN , WERE HELD AT MITCHEL'S FUNERAL HOME CHAPEL WITH BURIAL AT GAINESVILLE CEMETERY.
THE DYERSBURG , TENNESSEE NATIVE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK AND DIED THURSDAY AT HIS HOME , 818 E. COURT. HE HAD LIVED IN GREENE COUNTY MOST OF HIS LIFE . HE WAS 75 YEARS OF AGE.
HE IS SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE , SEVEN SONS , TWO DAUGHTERS , TWO BROTHERS AND 21 GRANDCHILDREN AND 10 GREAT GRANDCHILDREN.
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