Biographies

BIOS

Mamie Elizabeth Roberts Glenyce Bennett Olree Gertrude Blackwood Ronald Edward Ballard Helen Lucille Jacqueline Jones Hayes



MAMIE ELIZABETH ROBERTS

Beautician turned faultless bookkeeper died at 97

By Cary Bradburn

The people at Balch Motor Co. knew her as "Mrs. Roberts." For 30 years, until her retirement in 1979, Mamie Elizabeth Roberts worked her way up as bookkeeper, office manager and secretary-treasurer at one of the state's major auto dealerships.

"She was just really my right hand," said Fred Balch Jr., who ran the former company that his father founded.

Mrs. Roberts died March 16 of natural causes at age 97. Balch recalled the day she told him she planned to retire."I said absoutely not," he said. But she insisted on it, he remembered because at 75 she didn't want to make a mistake.

Her financial statements regulary won awards from the Oldsmobile Division for accuracy and meeting deadline, Balch said.

Barbara Roberts, her daughter-in-law, said she worked with her at Balch for 14 years - 10 years in the same office.

"She taught me accounts receivable," Barbara Roberts of North Little Rock said. "She was as efficient as she could be. I wouldn't say she ever made a mistake.

Born on Nov. 7, 1903, in Conway to John and Sophronia Higgs, both school teachers, Mrs. Roberts proved to be an able student and was herself teaching by the 10th grade.

Elizabeth Kelly of North Little Rock, her daughter, said that when her mother's family became of the first in Conway to buy a car, the Ford salesman taught her to drive it and she taught her parents, though she was only 13 years old.

Her mother also played piano by ear, Kelley said. "She could hear the music at the movies and come back home and play it," she said.

Inscribed on a rain tunnel near her home was 1903 the date of its construction.

Her son, Jim Roberts of North Little Rock, said her mother pointed that date out to her and said that if she ever forgot the year in which she was born to go look at the tunnell.

After a first marriage that ended in divorce, Mrs. Roberts eventually married Charles Roberts, a salesman. The family moved around quite a bit in the late 1920s and 1930s, then settled down in North Little Rock in 1937.

Mrs. Roberts opened a beauty shop in the old Fredwell Building in Levy, but after World War II broke out, she as well as others in her family worked at the Ford Baco-Davis ordance plant in Jacksonville.

During the war she donated her long hair - it came down below the back of her knees - to the government for use in the bomber sights of military aircraft.

"She was a beautiful, beautiful woman," Barbara Roberts said. Later in the '40s, Mrs. Roberts worked for the North Little Rock Housing Authority and placed people in Silver City Courts, the state's first housing project. She joined Balch in 1949.

After retirement, she moved to Parkview Towers in Little Rock, where her son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Barbara Roberts, served as managers. She was active there in AARP and led residents in volunteer effords on behalf of nonprofits, family members said. They said she also worked in resident rummage sale and helped organize parties. "She always wanted to help people," Kelley said.

Balch said she wa a loyal employee whom people came to for advice. She had a knack, too, for sizing people up, he said, and could usually tell him if a prospective job candidate would make it there.

Although spending the last two years of her life in a wheelchair, she was still upbeat, Jim Roberts said. "Once I asked her how she was doing," he noted," She said I'm going with the flow,"

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, an infant son, Charles Roberts; and her brother, Garland Freemont Higgs. She was a member of Second Baptist Church in Little Rock.

She is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Kelley; her son and daughter-in-law, Jim and Barbara Roberts; sister, Maggie Griffith of Conway; three grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; and six great-great grandchildren.

A gravesid service was March 20 at Little Rock National Cemetery with the Rev. James Thomason of Second Baptist Church officiating.

The Times - 3/29/2001.


GLENYCE BENNETT OLREE

Longtime resident, 88, love life and people



Nancy Dockter

Family members say longtime North Little Rock resident, Glenyce Bennett Olree will be remembered for her enthusiasm for life and her love of people.

Despite being palgued by numerous health problems in recent years - Parkinson's disease, diabetes and cancer - she maintained a fighting spirit and a strong mind, recalled her daughter, Glenda Huey of North Little Rock.

"Her mind was perfect, as good as yours or mine, until just last Sunay," Huey said."Her memory was clear. She could tell you what happened years ago or five weeks ago or just five minutes ago.

Mrs. Olree died Friday, March 19, five days after the Sunday stroke that robbed her of her meticulous recall. She was 88.

The strong spirit that sustained Mrs. Olree through years of poor health was tested early in he life, which began on a small farm in Grenada, Miss.

One of seven daughter of farmers John and Martha Alice Bennett, who also had one son, she was brought up in a family that pulled together to make a living, mainly through selling cotton, milk and eggs.

"They did whatever else they could to bring in money and stay afloat," Huey said.

Like most children of farming families of that era, Mrs. Olree quit school in her early teens to find work to help support the family.

"She stayed home to help with the cooking or would find work and turn {what she had earned} over to the family, never keeping any for herself," Huey said." She even had to borrow a dress and shoes to get married."

The young man she married, when she was just 18, was Thomas Olree, whose family also farmed in the area. For a few years, they stayed in Grenada to farm until Mr. Olree found work on the Frisco Railroad that ran from St. Louis to San Francisco.

The job would move the Olrees to Blytheville and several other small towns in Arkansas, including Wilson and Paragould before moving to North Little Rock in the 1950's.

Mr. Olree continued his work with the railroad as a supervisor of a rail maintence crew, and Mrs. Olree becames a homemaker. She bore three children, two sons who died in infancy, and a daughter, who remained close to her mother her entire life.

"Except for one period, we always lived together or just down the street from each other," Huey said."She was my best friend, my pal."

After her daughter was older, Mrs. Olree took occasional jobs invariably working with people - as a bowling alley cook, babysitter and aide to the elderly.

But close to retirement age she struck upon a way to earn money and do something even more fun. What started with a casual trip to a Saturday flea market, at the time a regular event on the lawn of Laman Library, became a passion for Mrs. Olree.

"My aunt told her about the flea market at the library, and she brought back pretty stuff, statues and whatnots," Huey said. "We were amazed at what people would get rid of. But pretty soon we have a house-full and decided we needed to have a sale of our own or move out."

Over the years, mother and daughter worked the flea market circuit in Central Arkansas, until illness forced Mrs. Huey to retire.

"It was hard work, but she loved buying and selling an meeting people," Huey said, "She loved...people.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Olree. Besides her daughter, She is survived by a sister, Burma Armstrong of Henderson, Tenn., and a granddaughter, Sandra Lynn Huey of North Little Rock.

Graveside serivces were held Tuesday, March 23 at Edgewood Memorial Park, North Little Rock.

The Times - March 25, 1999


GERTRUDE BLACKWOOD

Local woman shared the gift of giving beauty



Nancy Dockter

During the 1950's and '60's the ladies of North Little Rock could count on the Blackwood beauty salons and beauty school to be up on the latest styles and techniques. There owner, Getrude Blackwood, made sure of that.

From national trade shows, she brought back new trends to share with students at her cosmetology school on Broadway and stylists working at her six salons around the state, including ones on F Street and MacArthur Drive.

A longtime resident of North Little Rock, Mrs. Blackwood, a successful entrepreneur and respected teacher in her field, died Sunday, Jan. 28, after several years of declining health. She was 86.

She was born March 19, 1914 the only child of Tom and Bess Nutt, who farmed near the tiny community of Laredo, just outside of Jonesboro. An only child, she was hardworking and likable, two traits that later helped her become a leader in cosmetology in Arkansas and nationally.

Soon after graduating fro high school, she married her longtime beau, Marcus Blackwood. Wartime took them to St. Louis, where he worked in an airplane factory. There, she studied cosmetology and ran a salon in her home while taking care of twin toddlers, a boy and a girl.

Returning to Arkansas a few years later, the Blackwoods settled in Paragould, where Mrs. Blackwood opened another salon behind their home.

Her knack for hair styling soon won her a reputation and an invitation to found the cosmetology department at Green County Technical School

In 1955, the Blackwoods decided to leave Paragould for the big city. It was either going to be Terrell, Texas, where Mr. Blackwood had an opportunity to manage an auto parts store, or North Little Rock, where Mrs. Blackwood would open a salon and beauty school.

A visit to Terrell made up their minds: North Little Rock it would be. "The "old North Little Rock Gas Building" on Broadway as her business's first location. In time, the salon, a Comer and Duran franchise out of Los Angeles, moved to 13th and Main.

Later, Mrs. Blackwood opened other salons in Park Hill, Levy, and Jacksonville as well as Pocahontas, Pine Bluff and Jonesboro. Eventually Mr. Blackwood retired from the auto supply businss to manage his wife's growing enterprise.

Her daughter, Janice Jackson of North Little Rock, still has vivid memorials of watching her mother at work.

"Man, her hands, she could really move that hair," she recalled. "She did a lot of haair and a lot of people wanted her to come teach.

Her reputation led to opportunities to teach across the state as well as at national trade hows, where Loreal, Clairol and other industry leaders unveiled the latest trends.

However, Mrs. Blackwood's penchant for the lates styles had its downside, too, her daughter noted.

"Every time a trend came out, she'd learn it - I was proof," she said, recalling her embarrassment in junior high when her mother gave her the latest "do."

"When the poodle........ I got it. she said ruefully, remembering the day she walked to school with the new curly top hairdo.

"She was very persuasive, that was one of her best traits," commented her son, Jim Blackwood. "But she was also very empathetic, extremely kind. She could put herself in your shoes real quick. The people who worked for her loved her.

Success as a cosmetologist was not just a matter of techniques to Mrs. Blackwood, confirmed former employee and daughter-in-law, Gigi Blackwood.

"She'd say, "If you can do a finger roll and three rolls of pin curls, you can be a good hair stylist," then she would always tell us, "If you're kind and honest with students and employees, you'll be a success as a hair stylist."

Besides her husband of 67 years, Marcus Blackwood, survivors include her two children, Janice Jackson of North Little Rock and Jim Blackwood of Mesquite, Texas; grandchiuldren, Julie Nichols and her husband, Jim of North Little Rock; Mark Blackwood, and his wife, Janie of Houston; Jay Blackwood of Fort Walton Beach Fla., and Kip Jackson of North Little Rock; and great-grandchildren, Jackson and Jared Nichols of North Little Rock.

The family requests that memorials be made to the Tape Ministry of Park Hill Baptist Church, where Mrs. Blackwood was a Sunday School teacher for many years. Funeral services were Wednesday at Roller-Owens Chapel with Dr. S. Cary Heard officiating. Interment was in Rest Hills Memorial Park.

The Times - February 2, 2001


RONALD EDWARD BALLARD

Talented organist shared love of music



Eric Francis

Ronald Edward Ballard of North Little Rock, a passionate musician who parlayed his talent into a career as an organist and choral director at a number of churches as well as a music and theater critic for two local publications, died on Tuesday, Jan 23, of kidney, liver and heart disease at 54.

"Ron was an outstanding organist, an outstanding church musician...a consummate profession," said the Rev. Jim Freeman, co-pastor of Westover Hills Presbyterian Church in Little Rock where Mr. Ballard had worked for the last eight years.

The son of a local mechanic and his wife, Mr. Ballard grew up in Park Hill Baptist Church and graduated from Ole Main before heading off on a music scholarship to Oklahoma Baptist University.

Long-time friend Richard C. Butler of Little Rock said Mr. Ballard learned to play the pipe organ under Aleta Jessup at Christ Episcopal Church in Little Rock and discovered an immediate knack for the instrument.

But while many knew of his performing ability, Butler added, few knew that Mr. Ballard also composed music.

"He happened to be in New York when a church needed a hand bell choir arrangement," Butler recalled. "He just sat down and wrote one."

Still , he never sought to publish his work; he did it for his own enjoyment, or to help others who needed special arrangements.

"He was extremely talented, just a musical genius." said Diane Gephardt of North Little Rock, a choir member of Park Hill Baptist who met Mr. Ballard when, in the course of a career that took him to churches in and out of the state, he became the organist at Park Hill in 1980.

Because of Mr. Ballard's skill, "the minister of music could pick out the hardest things for us to sing and for him to play," she said. But Gephardt also remembered Mr. Ballard as delightfully entertaining to be around, someone who always saw the humor in life.

"I went on choir with him, and we laughed our way to Florida and back," she said.

Patty Turner, Park Hill Baptist's current organist, said Mr. Ballard gave her some coaching when she, primarily a piano player stepped into his shoes.

"He showed me music that would adapt well to the services, actually shared some of his repertoire with me to help me get started," she said. "He was just a fine individual."

"But he was a very humble person, he never tooted his own horn," noted State Rep. Mary Ann Salmon, a long-time friend.

In time he would, however share some his insight by writing reviews of musical performances, as well as theater and other arts events, for Specturm Weekly and Arkansas Times newspapers.

"He had real strong opinions and was the perfect kind of reviewer from my point of view," Said Max Brantly, editor of Arkansas Times. "He had some people who like his work and then he had some people that Ron just got under their skin.

One review in particular even drew unexpected fire. "There was an organ recital in Little Rock, a famous organist, a couple of years ago. Ron pretty well panned the guy and it prompted just a fire storm of reaction," he said. "Ron seemed genuinely consternated by it. I think he was a little bit hurt by the criticism. It wasn't too many months after that he retired from the fray.

"But while he was here, he would go anywhere, anytime, multiple times a week. He turned out stories that were well-written and grammatically correct and interesting, in very short order, and that's all an editor can ask."

But close friends say Mr. Ballard did many things well - including cooking and conversation.

He made the "best cheese soup I've ever eaten," raved Salmon. "We traded recipes, and he was just a good friend. He was one of those people that, even though I might not see him for several years, we picked up where we left off.

"I just think if there were more people in our world like Ron, it would a verypleasant place."

Indeed, Gephardt said Mr. Ballard's vitality was such that he had always said he had no desire to die at old age in a hospital.

"Ron told me that he didn't want to die at 80 with tubes [hooked up to] his body. He wanted to die at 50 with a Twinkie in each hand," she recalled.

So last week Gephardt made a special dessert for the reception that followed a memorial service in his honor. The dessert was decorated with two hands drawn on the icing, she said, and each hand was grasping a Twinkie.

Mr. Ballard is survived by a brother, Burton Ballard Jr. of Willis, Texas; a sister, Patricia Rodriguez of Houston, Texas; two nieces and a nephew; an uncle and seven aunts; and his partners, Butler of Little Rock and Robert Deaton of Washington, D.C.

Burial was in Edgewood Cemetery in North Little Rock. The family requests that memorials be made to the Organ Renovation Fund at Westover Hills Presbyterian Church.

The Times - February 8, 2001


HELEN LUCILLE JACQUELINE JONES HAYES

Creative artist, friend to may dies at age 90

Kitty Chism

Her father was a physician, her brother was a physician, and she married a physician.

So for years Helen Lucille Jacqueline Jones Hayes, the youngest of five children, was content to pursue her artistry in the medical profession, studying medical technology, working for her urologist brother, Fay H. Jones but focusing much of her energy on doing pen and ink enlargements of the photographs in medical texts for her father. Dr. William E. Hayes who was also a medical school professor.

It was much later in life when she found her real niche in oil and pastel painting, setting up a studio in her two-car garage in Lakewood, where independent and outgoing, she also taught classes for many years and continued to produce a wide range of colorful works despite her deteriorating eysight and arthritic hands.

"She liked color," said her daughter Libby Gilbertson of Dallas, Texas. "She like the French Impressionists for their use of color, but she was very diversified. She also did a lot of abstracts."

Mrs. Hayes, a charter member of the Arkansas Art League who was active in the local art community for several decades, died Wednesday, Dec. 16, of congestive heart failure. She was 90.

Born in Charleston, Ark., she moved to Little Rock with her family when she was school-aged, graduated from Central High and majored in medical technology at the University of Arkansas Medical School

Ther she met James Donald Hayes Jr., who was studying to be a physician at the time, and after they were married in 1934 they moved to North Little Rock. Active in the Medical Auxiliary for many years, she also served as a volunteer for the Red Cross and on the local blackout patrol unit during the war years.

But as a young married woman, the Park Hill Garden Club was her joy, finding there an outlet to express her love of flowers and nature.

"She also took in all the stray dogs and cats [in the neighborhood]," her daughter fondly recalls.

A creative woman who made friends easily and had a knack for staying in touch with people of all ages she met along her way, her daughter said Mrs. Hayes, who started studying art seriously soon after the war, got together with six of her women artist friends in 1972 and formed the North Little Rock Artist League, which still provides support, competitions and showcases for local artists today.

Widowed in 1969, she volunteered in the Arkansas Art Center's gift shop for more than a decade and was a member of the North Little Rock Woman'S Club, Winfield United Methodist Church and North Hill Country Club.

But art was her passion, and she simply would not let age dimish her enthusiam for it.

"Now that I'can't see the fine detail anymore," she told a reporter a few months ago. "I have developed a greater appreciation for the interplay of colors."

She was preceded in death by her brothers Arthur, Fay and Everet, sister Hester Thomasson and husband, Dr. James Donald Hayes.

Besides her daughter and son-in-law, Libby Gilbertson and Paul Clark of Dallas, she is survived by a son and daughter-in-law, James Donald and Maxine Hayes of North Little Rock; grandchildren, Alfred G. Gilbertson Jr., Karen Gilbertson Cowden and husband, John B. Cowden III of Dallas, and Jacquelyn Michelle Hayes of North Little Rock; great-grandchildren, Allison Clara Cowden and John B. Cowden IV, both of Dallas, Texas; a step-granddaughter, Cynthia Renee Lide and her husband, Bradley, of Nashivlle, Tenn.; and step-great-grandchildren, Michael and Adam Farnam of Nashville, Tenn.

Funeral services were held Saturday, Dec. 19, in the chapel of Griffin Leggett Healey & Roth Funeral Home with the Rev. David Bentley officiating. Burial was in Roselawn Cemetery.

The family requests that memorials be made to the Laman Library, 2801 North Orange Street, North Little Rock, AR 72114, or to the Arkansas Arts Center, MacArthur Park, Little Rock

The Times - December 31, 1998