Those who knew her best say lasting friendships and family ties were the priorities of longtime North Little Rock resident Bertha W. Rice, and her closest friend and companion was her husband Nathan "Ed" Rice, whose death in October was a devastating loss to her.

Two months later, she died on his birthday, Dec. 21, of a heart attack.

She was 76.

"She had friendships that lasted more than 20 years; she'd do anything for anyone." said her daughter, Faye A. Blake of North Little Rock.

Born in White County, Mrs. Rice was one of four children of George and Esther Radcliff. She moved to North Little Rock in 1952 at the age of 30 and worked for a time at Eastside Meat Market on Washington Avenue and then at Baptist Hospital as a nurse's aide.

Here she met her first husband, Odus Burleson. They had four children-three girls and a boy-and were a close-knit family who shared in Mrs. Rice's love for the outdoors.

"She loved to go camping in the Ozarks, get out in a boat," daughter Faye recalled. "She'd fry fish and potatoes in a skillet over a fire right on the creek bank. And camping wasn't with a tent, but right on the open ground."

Basketball, which she had played growing up, also continued to interest her as an adult, and she followed the Arkansas Razorback basketball team avidly, family members say. In fact, one of her most treasured memories as an adult was getting to meet Coach Nolan Richardson and have her picture taken with him.

She worked for 15 years as a cafeteria worker for the North Little Rock School District at Rose City Elementary School and later, Rose City Junior High.

After her first marriage ended in divorce, she married Nathan "Ed" Rice, a truck driver. They had one daughter and a blended family of nine with his four boys from a previous marriage.

"She was a loving and caring person, and her favorite thing to do was get together with family-bunches of cousins, aunts," Faye recalled, "Lastng friendship and lots of friends is what she was about."

"She was a trusted friend and confidant to may who knew her," her daughter Dana confirmed. "She was like a second mother to some, a rock peiople could depend on in times of trouble."

She was preceded in death by a sister, Madge M. Stephens.

Survivors include five sons, D. L. Burleson, Henry Rice and Bob Rice of North Little Rock, William H. "Bill" Rice of Knoxville, Tenn., and Charles Aubrey Rice of Pekin, Ill.; four daughters, Faye A. Blake of North Little Rock, Brenda C. Dodson of Hot Springs, Norma Johnson of Kissimmee, Fla., and Dana D. Watson of Collierville, Tenn.; two brothers, Cecil A Radcliff of Henet, Calif., and George E. Radcliff Jr. of Maumelle; one sister, Jessie A. Stradiota of Mayflower; 19 grandchildren and 37 great-grandchildren. Graveside services were held on Mnday, Dec. 28, at Rest Hills Memorial park.

The family requests that memorials be made to the American Heart Association, 909 West Second St., Little Rock, 72201.;

The Times Dec. 31, 1998



LYNVILLE L. YIELDING

Religious man, public servant dies at 82

Lynville L. Yielding of North Little Rock, a man of deep religious conviction who left an indelible mark on area service and civic organizations, died Thursday, Feb. 20, at home of heart failure.

He was 82.

Honored in recent years with numerous tributes for his contributions to the community, he was admired by those who knew him best for his unshakable faith and commitment to church and family.

"He was a very, very religious man, and his pride and joy were his two grandchildren.", said his wife, Alene Yielding.

For 50 years he taught a devoted 20 member Sunday School class at Baring Cross Baptist Church, where Mr. Yielding also served for 40 years as a deacon and regularly took communion to nursing home residents unable to attend Sunday services.

"The church just meant so much to him. It was definitely one of the most important things in his life," Alene Yielding said. "Every year, he made it a point to read the Bible all the way through."

"And every family breakfast began with the reading of a Bible verse and then we would pray together," said his daughter, Linda Perry.

Born the second of five children of a carpenter, he moved to Little Rock when he was 8 and graduated from Little Rock High School when he was 16.

After managing a service station at Third and High streets in Little Rock for several years, he went to work for the Dr. Pepper Bottling Co., also in Little Rock, working his way up to vice president sales manager, the position he held when he left the company in 1954.

In 1933, he had married Ruby Harrison and moved to North Little Rock. Ruby died of cancer in 1964.

His time at Dr. Pepper was interrupted when he joined the Army and served in the South Pacific as a first lieutenant during World War II.

"It was an experience that changed his life, he told a reporter a few years ago.

In the midst of battle one day; when his ship was being pelted by enemy fire, he told the Lord that if He would just "get me through this," he would devote his life to serving others, he said.

And so he did.

He accepted a position on the North Little Rock Civil Service COmmission and stayed there for 12 years. He joined the board of the North Little Rock Boys Club and stayed there for 36 years. He was an active member of the Chamber of Commerce for 30 years, taking the helm in 1969; he was a founding member of the North Little Rock Roatry Club, serving as president in 1963; and he was a leading member of the committee that in 1968 successfully promoted passage of the bond issue that funded construction of Northeast High School, now East Campus.

In recent years one of his most treasured undertakings was his work with the Salvation Army Board, his wife said. Right up until the last years of his life, he would organize groups of volunteers to stand outside area shops during the holiday season and collect money by ringing bells.

For his tireless civic efforts long after his retirement, Mr. Yielding was honored with a Hall of Fame Award from the city's Senior Citizens COmmission in September, 1995.

"He was very dynamic, vivacious, enthusiastic, and just well-loved," said his daughter.

"He surely was a friend of this community and someone I respected," Mayor Pat Hays said. "He helped give our city it personality, and he will certainly be missed."

The last 31 years of his working life, Mr. Yielding had worked for Investment Diversified Services, now IDA/American Express, in Little Rock, serving as district manager and then as a sale representative. He retired in 1985 and was inducted into the company's Hall of Fame in 1994.

He was remarried in 1965 to Alene Yarbrough, who by then had a 15-year-old daughter by a previous marriage.

"He loved Linda just like she was his own. He took so much pride in her, " Alene Yielding said. And years later Linda's two children, M.J. and Meredith Perry of Plano, Texas, would become the lights of his life.

"Nobody else could talk about their grandchildren around Lynn, 'cause he would talk and talk and talk about his," his wife said. "And he just loved being around them. As soon as they could walk, he would take them with him as he golfed" in Burns Park.

When he wasn't golfing or working in his backyard wood shop, Mr. Yielding liked to work in his garden and solve crossword puzzles. In his later years, he also loved to play the ukulele and was a member of the Baring Cross Ukulele Band that performs regularly at area retirement and nursing homes.

Besides his wife, daughter and two grandchildren, he is survived by his son-in-law Robert Perry of Plano, Texas, and a sister, Inez Hennigan of Little Rock.

Funeral services were held Saturday, Feb. 22, with Dr. Marty Watson, Dr. David Garland, and the Rev. K. Alvin Pitt officiating.

Burial was in Edgewood Memorial Park.

The family requests that memorials be made to the Baring Cross Baptist Church Building Fund.

The Times - February 27, 1997



RAYMOND GEORGE AVERY

Former VA dietetic supervisor dies at 81

Growing up on a Nevada County farm helping to raise cotton, vegetables and melons, Raymond George Avery learned how to work hard and love it. As the oldest son in a family of seven children, he would choose not to scatter like the rest of his siblings but rather stay and help his parents and near-by relatives with their crops.

Even after he returned from World War II and started working in food services at the Fort Roots hospital compound, he thought nothing of spending his weekends and vactions digging potatoes or hauling watermelons on the family farm, say his now-grown sons who remember accompanying their dad on some of those trips.

And within a week of his retirement as a Fort Roots dietetic supervisor nearly 25 years ago, Mr. Avery took a full-time job at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as the "lamp Man" responsible for changing all the light bulbs on the 3 million-square-foot campus - working there until last October, when he was diagnosed with bone cancer.

Mr. Avery, a longtime Baring Cross resident of great energy and stamina, died Wednesday, Jan. 20. He was 81.

Born in Prescott, Mr. Avery was the second oldest child of a close-knit, religious family who owned a 40-acre farm in nearby Midway, where his great-grandfather, one of the first circuit riders to come to Arkansas, had established a Methodist church.

There wasn't a lot of spare time from farm work, but when the heavy rains common to south Arkansas saturated the fields, Mr. Avery and his siblings and cousins would take off to do some fishing or frog gigging. And whenever school was in session and the demands of the farm allowed, he would walk to the one-room, eight-grade school a mile up the road, which was the extent of his formal education.

Six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, he joined the Army as one of the first draftees from Nevada County, according to his son, Mike.

As part of the Sixth Infantry, he was sent to New Guinea and the Philippines, where he, "One of the best squirrel hunters in Nevada County" survived heavy combat by his skills as a marksman - and by following a tip from a more experienced soldier: "Turn down promotions and be one of the dirtiest, scroungiest soldiers on the beach...The Japs look for bars and stripes," the soldier had told him.

Back home after the war, he weighed 110 pounds, was still ill from malaria and recovering from shrapnel wounds sustained when a grenade blew up in his foxhole, his brothers Elvin, Hudson and Billy Don recalled. For his service he was awarded a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, a Philippine Liberation Ribbon, an American Theatre Medal, a Combat Infantryman Badge and a Victory Medal.

In 1946, Mr. Avery took a job in food services at Fort Roots, where he would stay for the next 31 years. It was during one of his frequent trips back home that first year, however, that Mr. Avery met 19-year-old Lula Jean Grant at the soda fountain of the Prescott drugstore, where she worked. A year later they married and moved to North Little Rock, settling in Baring Cross and raising three children.

In 1974, Mr. Avery retired from Fort Roots, but one week later a neighbor, a UAMS employee, told him about the job opening in lighting maintenance.

He would take the job, envisioning himself staying for two or three years but remained there for the next 24, family members say.

"He was happy to be working - retirement was not for him." his son Stephen said.

Chris Marr, a UAMS foreman, said Mr. Avery was beloved by his co-workers. He was nominated by the Physical Plant for the Arkansas Able Honor for Senior Citizens in 1993 and named the UAMS Employee of the Year in 1996. And for his 80th birthday, some 250 colleagues, including maintenance workers, doctors and nurses, turned out for a surprise party in his honor.

"He will be greatly missed," said Mike Long, a longtime co-worker. "He was a super guy, who was quiet, friendly, never a gossip. We all loved him, absolutely."

He was preceded in death by two sisters, Gladys Bumpers and Cloe McBrayer and a brother, J.D. Avery.

Besides his wife, Lula Jean, Mr. Avery is survived by three children, Michael G. Avery and his wife, Carolyn of North Little Rock, Stephen G. Avery and his wife, E.J. of Springhill, Fla., and Lisa Avery of Monticello, Ark.; numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and three brothers, Elvin Avery of Prescott, Hudson Avery of Texarkana and Billy Don Avery of Magnolia.

A memorial service was held Saturday, Jan. 23 at Roller-Owen Funeral Home with the Revs. Marty Watson and Vernon Wickliffe officiating.

The famly request that memorials be made to Baring Cross Baptist Church or UAMS Cancer Research Center.

The Times - January 28, 1999



DURWARD GIBSON CLARK

Sunday School volunteer dies at age 70

At age 70, Durward Gibson Clark delighted in surrounding himself with youthful energy, which accounts for why he volunteered to teach children's Sunday School for 20 years at Park Hill Baptist Church where he was a member. But last Sunday, Aug. 2, was his last Sunday enthralling eager children with stories about the scripture.

Later that day he died at home from a mysterious blood clot.

Born in McCrory, Ark., Mr. Clark was the son of a mechanic who spent much of his time tirelessly working on a "rotary engine," an innovation his family said he never patented. Mr. Clark's mother was a homemaker for the most part but worked part-time as a department store saleswoman.

While he was still a boy, his family moved to North Little Rock where Clark graduated from North Little Rock High School in 1946. Three years later he married the former Madeline Holt, a fresh-faced woman he had met at a church function.

The young couple soon became parents to two daughters, Susan and Lynne. To support his family, Clark worked in the insurance business.

"After he retired, he loved to be around children," said Mrs. Clark, a retired secretary of the North Little Rock Roatry Club. "He loved encouraging them."

Mr. Clark, who served a stint in the Navy, would entertain children for hours with stories about his adventures overseas and growing up in McCrory.

"When he wasn't around children or our grandchildren," Mrs. Clark said, He did woodworking and made golf clubs."

An avid golfer, Mr. Clark spent many fulfilling days working with the junior golf program at the North Hills Country Club. Because of his friendly demeanor, Mr. Clark attracted many friends both young and old.

"Everybody's going to miss him," Mrs. Clark said, "but I think the children [at church] will miss him most."

He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Madeline Clark; his two daughters, Susan Fendley and Lynn Clark; his grandsons, Stephen Fendley of Fayetteville and Zachary Fendley of North Little Rock; his three brothers, Marion Clark of North Little Rock, Charles Clark of Berlin Heights, Ohio and Robert Clark of Floyd, Ark.; his sister, Carolyn Waldo of Conroe, Texas; and a host of nieces and nephews.

Funeral services were held at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Park Hill Baptist Church with Dr. S. Cary Heard officiating. Burial was at Rest Hills Memorial Park.

The family request that memorials be made to Park Hill Baptist Church.

The Times - August 6, 1998



JESSIE MAE SCOGGINS

Energetic adventurer dies of stroke at age 90

If there was one thing that friend and family of Jessie Mae Scoggins say they could count on in recent years, it was her daily regimen.

As sure as the sun would rise, Mrs. Scoggins would awake every morning at 6:30 and breakfast on cereal, toast, and coffee.

Lunch would consist of mashed potatoes, green beans, and maybe a piece of chicken and occur promptly at 11:30 a.m., and dinner would be at 4 p.m. and consist of two unsalted crackers, two sugar cookies, and a glass of milk.

Mrs. Scoggins died Friday, May 2, at the Robinson Healthcare nursing home of complications following a stroke.

She was 90, a mileston family members attribute to the structure and energy of her life.

"She was definitely a creature of habit," said her daughter Mary Jane Boerner of North Little Rock. But oddly enough, this outgoing woman also had an amazing sense of adventure and couriosity.

"She loved to be around people, around friends, and loved to travel," said her son-in-law Henry Boerner of North Little Rock. She often said, "If a car pulled out of the driveway, I want to be in it.'"

The middle of 12 children of a farmer in Gravel Ridge, she moved to North Little Rock with her family in 1925.

In the mid and late 1930's, she owned two grocery stores, the first one near the Little Rock airport and the second one in Levy. That was until World War II, when Mrs. Scoggins worked at the ammunitions depot in Jacksonville to help make ends meet for her and the daughter by her first marriage, Mary Jane.

"My mother always gave me the things that I needed, but that meant she didn't have some of the things she needed," her daughter recalled of those years.

Still she never let things get her down.

"She'd often say, "Some day, I'm gonna have a Cadillac,'" added her daughter.

And, in 1958, she actually got her Cadillac.

It was a gift from her second husband, Loy Scoggins. The two had met at a North Little Rock dance in 1943 when he was stationed at Camp Robinson, and they were married early the following year. "I was happy to be able to do that for her," said her husband, who owned Loy's Barber Shop from 1955 to 1993 and who bought her a new Cadillac every two years after that first purchase.

It was in these cars that Mrs. Scoggins pursued her favorite pastime, driving with various family members to Oregon, Texas, Niagara Falls, and California, among other places, to visit siblings, nieces, and nephews.

"The drive to Los Angeles was one of her favorites because she enjoyed all the stops along the way: Vegas, Boulder, the Grand Canyon, etc.," said her son-in-law Henry Boerner.

She also enjoyed trips to Branson to be part of the concert audiences of Freddy Fender, Roy Clark, and Mickey Gilley, but her favorite musician of all was Elvis Presley.

She had an extensive collection of Elvis albums, cassettes, and eight tracks, and she spent countless hours listening and singing her favorite gospel numbers along with the King, especially "How Great Thou Art" and "Precious Lord Take My Hand."

Her son-in-law sang both songs at her funeral Monday.

Upbeat and resourceful, she exuded amazing energy and stamina, and folks who knew her well attributed it to her strict diet and regimen of exercise that included jogging in place every day from the time she was in her mid-50s until she was in her mid-80s.

"She was a health nut," said Henry Boerner. "She enjoyed exercising and was a real stickler on diet."

Three years ago when her health began to fail, Mrs. Scoggins entered Robinson Healthcare and quickly won over the hearts of the other patients and staff there.

"She had a real spirit and strength about her," said her daughter, Mary Jane Boerner. "One of the nurses told me that she could come to work feeling tired or down, but that a few minutes with my mom would completely change her mood."

Mrs. Scoggins was a member of Park Hill Baptist Church.

Besides her husband, her daughter and her son-in-law, Mrs. Scoggins is survived by a sister, Penny Gwatney of North Little Rock; a grandson, Gary Boerner, his wife Kathy Boerner, and a great-granddaughter, Jessica Boerner, all of Knoxville, Tenn.; and a host of nieces and nephews.

The funeral was Monday, May 5, at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Chapel, with the Rev. Luke Flesher officiating.

Burial was in Rest Hills Mausoleum.

The family requests that memorials be made to the Robinson Healthcare Family Council, 519 Donovan Briley Parkway, North Little Rock, AR 72118.

The Times - May 8, 1997