| Harley T. Barlow | Charles Lindsay | Bennie Rudd | Marie Todd Cook | L.B. "Loyle" Haynie |
Harley T. "Keg" Barlow led a distinguished adult life, first as a decorated World War II fighter pilot, then as an Air Force meteorologist and then as a poplular math teacher at Lakewood Junior High.
But to family, friends, and neighbors, he may well be remembered best as "the bicycle man."
His bike, says his wife, Katherine, was "a plain old 1950's Schwinn. It had a little radio on the front. And he would ride for miles and miles, listening."
Even in his later years, he thought nothing of riding from here to Lonoke and back, but odomoter records over the years showed he crisscrossed an incredible 10,000 miles between 1858 and 1962, and another 10,000 each between 1962-1966, 1972-1976, and 1979-1982.
Mr. Harlow died Saturday, Jan 11, of natural causes at Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock. He was 75.
When he wasn't peddling his own wheels, he loved to take care of his 1968 gold Mustang, family members said.
"That car was his pride and joy," his wife said.
And together they loved to dance, expecilly to Big-Band music, she said.
"He loved to dance the jitterbug. Man, could he jitterbug."
The youngest of two sons of a gas company manager, Mr. Barlow grew up in Booneville, Ark.
In the fall of 1939, he enrolled at Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway, joined the Arkansas National Guard and soon after Pear Harbor found himself stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington.
He entered pilots school in 1942 in Arizona and was sent overseas after graduation to fly p-38's in Africa and Italy. In 1944, as a member of the Eddie Rickenbacker Squadron, he led the raid on the Ploesti oil fields in Italy. For his service, Mr. Barlow was awarded the Silver Star, the Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Air Force Commendation Medal,among others.
Eventually he would return to Arkansas State Teachers College, graduating in 1953 and then going on for a master's degree in meteorology from the University of Chicago.
It was in August, 1952, at a company picnic with a friend who worked for the Arkansas Inspection and Rating Bureau, that he met his future wife Katherine Funk. The couple married the following May.
During the late 1950's and the early 1960's, Mr. Barlow, still in the Air Force, served as commander of the weather stations at Thule Air Force Base in Greenland, and Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in North Carolina.
He retired from the Air Force in June, 1965, moved his family to North Little Rock, and went back to what was then UCA for his teaching certificate.
He was soon teaching math at Lakewood Junior High School.
"He loved teaching. He was outgoing and very educated and very intelligent, so teaching was perfect," said his wife.
He retired from Lakewood in the spring of 1983, content to live out his remaining years riding his bike, tending to his car, and spending time with his family, his wife said.
"He never lost his spirit or his pleasure in his various hobbies," she said.
Mr. Barlow was a member of the First United Methodist Church of North Little Rock.
Besides his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Lynn Wood of Sherwood; a son, Tom Barlow of Vilonia; and four grandchildren, Dustin, Amber, Ryan, and Colby.
Funeral services were held Monday, Jan. 13, at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Chapel with the Revs. Don Noiley and Larry Kelso officiating.
He was buried in Pinecrest Cemetery with full military honors.
The family asks that memorials be made to the Building Fund of the First United Methodist Church of North Little Rock.
The Times - Jan. 31, 1997
Pride was something Charles Lindsay instilled in everything he came in contact with - whether it be his nine children or the vintage automobiles he restored. "He took so much pride in his work," said his son, Alan Lindsay, of Raleigh, N.C. "He was a person who had a work ethic on steroids. That is not often looked at as an attribute in this day and time, but it's one I highly respected. I always admired him for that." Mr Lindsay, 69, of North Little Rock, died Saturday, April 8, after a lengthy battle with lung disease. He would probably be disappointed in me for taking two days off for his funeral instead of one," said Alan Lindsay, chuckling. In his lifetime, Mr. Lindsay became famous world-wide for his restoration work, which was often done at the request of the automobiles' wealthy owners. Among his best recognized works were a 1903 Rolls Royce and a turn-of-the century luxury horse-drawn carriage, both commissioned by the late Gov.Winthrop Rockefeller. Mr. Lindsay's work was showcased in museums across the nation, including the Petit Jean Museum of Automobiles, the Tommy Reed Museum in Hot Springs and Harrod's in Las Vegas, as well as in private collections around the world. He was often cited in numerous national magazine articles. Born to a painter and housewife in Helena, Mr. Lindsay began his life-long career, armed with only a sixth-grade education, as an apprentice for the late Everett Henley at his glass shop in Little Rock. After nearly 25 years with Henley, he became the manager of the upholstery restoration shop at the Imperial Palace Collection and Museum and then worked out of a shop at his home until his death. "He loved taking something that was old and torn up and refurbishing it to a thing of beauty." said his daughter, Dena Hooper, of North Little Rock. "When he talked about it, there was so much pride in his voice. He didn't do it unless he could do it right. He taught me that no matter what you're doing, you should take pride in it." Mr. Lindsay was notorious for insisting that he stay true to the original design of the cars he worked on, even going so far as to refuse to stuff the seats with anything but authentic batting. "There was such an expression of his affection for these old vehicles evident in his work. He was adamant that their heritage not be lost or cast aside," Alan Lindsay said. "He wanted the craftsmanship and the art they represent to be available to more people. He never tooted his own horn very much. To look at these beautiful automobiles he worked on, the elegance of the work he performed...he was so attentive to detail." His children describe their father as a quiet, serious man with a soft heart, who found religion in his latter years. He became a member of the First Pentecostal Church in North Little Rock about six years ago. Alan Lindsay said his father decided to "get his life right" then found a church to attend. "[And] once he started coming to church, that was what he talked about more than anything. He had a special walk with god," Hooper said. "It's usually the other way around," his son added, chuckling. "He was a good man with a good heart. He was a great comfort and inspiration to me in the last six to eight years of his life. It's impressive when a person who is older decides to make a big change in his life." In addition to Lindsay and Hooper, Mr. Lindsay is survived by his wife, Esther Lindsay; two daughters, Gay Long and Lisa Thornton, all of North Little Rock; two sons, Charles Edgar Lundgren of Little Rock and David Lindsay of North Little Rock; one stepson, Michael Solorzano of Little Rock; two brothers, Joe Lindsay and Glen Lindsay; five sisters, Rita Ziglar, Deloris Adams, Ann Hewitt, Janet Cooper, and Veronica Owens; and nine grandchildren. Funeral services were held Wednesday at First Pentecostal Church by the North Little Rock Funeral Home with Rev Joel Holmes officiating. A graveside service was held at Maple Hill Cemetery in Helena. The Times - Apr. 13, 2000
By Heather Olson
Bennie Rudd used many tools during his career as a furniture maker, but his most valued were his hands. For more than 20 years, he made a wide variety of pieces for Colony Furniture in Little Rock, but his trademarks were his custom-made heirlooms - including handmade cradles for his grandchildren - that touched the lives of his family of seven children and became treasures to be passed down from one generation to the next. Mr. Rudd, 78, of Maumelle, a master craftsman whose principles in life were as steadfast as his signature works in wood, died Saturday, April 1. "The touch of his hands made it different," said his daughter, Pamela Duran, of Sherwood, who called her father's work a labor of love. "He loved creating his own style." He even used wood from the interior of the old Oakwood Baptist Church to add an additional "special touch" to some of his pieces, she said. Duran's favorite piece today is a curio cabinet her father made for her mother. "When I look at it, I can see my dad - his hands working to sand it to perfection," she said. But to some, Mr. Rudd was just as famous for his ceramic creations. During one Christmas season, word spread around his neighborhood that he knew how to make ceramic Christmas houses and the demand for them skyrocketed to the point were "we were all doing something to help him" get them all done, Duran said. Still, those closest to Mr. Rudd say that part of what made his work so wonderful was the temperament he exuded in so much of what he did. "My dad had a unique way about himself. Even in the last years when he was suffering, he never failed to see the bright side of things," Duran said. "I've never seen him show any kind of anger or speak ill of anybody. That's unusual in our day," agreed the Rev. Lonnie Autry, a former pastor who was his longtime friend. "He always had a smile. He may have lost his temper to someone, but I've never seen him," said another family friend, the Rev. Larry Skinner. "He has shown me how to be a better friend to people...He accepted me like I was." Born in Netherlands, Mo. and raised in the southeastern Missouri town of Kennett, Mr. Rudd, the son of a farmer, dropped out of school in the sixth grade. "They were very poor and my dad went to work in the cotton fields to support his [elderly] parents," Duran said. At the age of 20, Mr. Rudd married his wife Verneal. Shortly thereafter, with the nation at war, he joined the army, serving for 2 1/2 years in Fort Hancock, N.J. The family moved to Arkansas in 1960 and settled in the Maumelle area in 1969. But he kept forever the old-fashioned values he himself had been raised with, his daughter said, and so he always said things like he wanted his seven children to keep their "name clean so people would respect" them and be good citizens. "Time would change, but my dad wouldn't," she said. He was preceded in death by one grandchild and two great-grandchildren. Besides Duran, Mr. Rudd is survived by his wife, Verneal Doremus Rudd; five sons, Jerry, Terry, Larry and Ronnie Rudd, all of North Little Rock and Rickey Rudd of Lancaster, Texas; another daughter Karen Tankersley of Conway; 18 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren. Funeral services were held Tuesday, April 4, at Roller-Owens Funeral Home chapel with the Revs. Autry and Skinner officiating. Burial was at Pinecrest Memorial Park. The family requests that memorials be made to Oakwood Baptist Church of North Little Rock. The Times - Apr. 13, 2000
In recent years Marie Todd Cook, her husband and their oldest son had spent a few weeks each summer on a medical mission to the Caribbean bringing medication to the needy and comfort to the sick. But closer to home and for far more years this gentle woman had quietly and inconspicuously seen to it that nursing home residents had hand quilted lap robes enough to keep them warm, that an elderly couple with serious alcohol problems got help when they needed it and that members of her Somers Avenue Church of Christ with ailing relatives or a death in their family had homecooked food enough to feed whomever was staying with them that day or night. So it was only fitting that after her own funeral last Friday, her family and friends put on a potluck dinner in her honor at the church that had been the center of her life. And hundreds of people touched by this woman whom family members describe as "concerned about other people, never herself," gathered to pay tribute to her giving ways. Mrs. Cook died of cancer on Tuesday, Aug.21, at the age of 69. Born at Huron, Tenn., the eldest of three daughters of a farmer turned railroad worker, she moved to McRae when she was a teenager and to North Little Rock shortly after she met and married the World War II veteran who lived down the road. He would work at the VA Hospital, she on the assembly line at Timex, but only in revolving shifts so that one or the other could be with their two young sons in the house on Franklin Street they called home. "We never let anyone babysit them," her husband Bobby said. As the boys grew older, it was Mrs. Cook who got them down to the Boy's Club for swimming and fun, her youngest son Donnie recalls. But as soon as they were able, she was also the one who expected them to work themselves, mowing yards or taking care of neighbors' children to understand the value of an honest day's work and doing what is required to get a job done, he said. Today one son is a respiratory therapist, the other a senior vice president at Boatmen's Bank. But it was her example that she nurtured in them the responsibility to other people that was the driving force of her life, both sons say. She could not sit and watch television without working on another of the quilted lap robes from the ladies group at church that probably cover "half the nursing home residents in this city," her son Donnie said. And the year that River City Ministries turned an old school bus into a roving closet filled with clothes for the needy, it was Mrs. Cook and her husband who spent more than a week sorting hundreds of the first donations by size to help people find what they needed. "Three scriptures describe Marie Cook's life," said her Minister Orin Burt. "She was truly the virtuous woman described in Proverbs 31, she was clothed in humility...as was Abraham's wife Sarah, and like James she showed her faith by her works...unselfish and unpretentious." But the impact of her life was contained in a single comment one of the women in the church overheard at the dinner Friday. "From the midst of things, she was our leader," she said."Whatever are we going to do now?" Echoed her adoring husband: "She was my good pal for 49 years. I'm just lost without her."' Besides her two sons, she is survived by her two daughters-in-law, Judy Cook of Sherwood and Susan Cook of North Little Rock; her mother, Tillie Todd of McRae; two sisters, Louise Liles and husband, Wayburn, of North Little Rock, and Faye Tozer and husband, Chester, of McRae; and four grandchildren: Emily, 16; Jonathan, 11; Laurie, 15; and James, 13. Funeral services were officiated by Orin Burt and Carrol Fletcher. Burial was in Rest Hills Cemetery. The family requests memorials be made to Sylvan Hills Medical Mission in Christ, 117 West Maryland Avenue, Sherwood or Children's Homes, 5516 Old Wycott Road, Paragould, AR 72450. The Times - Aug. 29, 1996
When L.B. "Loyle" Haynie married his high school sweetheart Frances Allen the day after they graduated together from Gurdon High School 55 years ago, he didn't have have a job, but he hitched a ride with a friend to Hot Springs and walked six miles to Mountain Pine to find work at a sawmill. He didn't know it at the time, but eventually he would smell sawdust again as a builder of more than 100 homes in the city where he and his wife would put down roots in 1953. His wife Francws would draw the blueprints, and together they would provide homes for railroad friends he had worked with as an engineer at MoPac, where he hired out as a fireman in 1942. He got started in building while he was still working full-time for the railroad and offered to help a close friend who was a builder. One day he decided that if his friend could build homes, he could build them, too, family members said. "Construction was in his blood," his wife of 55 years said, "and he really built a good house." But he loved being an engineer too, and loved the railroad so much that just before he was set to retire in 1984, he changed his mind. Friends and railroad officials had planned a party for him at the depot, and when his and their son went to meet him to take him to the party, he told them: "Take me home, I'm not going to retire." Mr. Haynie, a warm, quiet man who attracted scores of friends, died of cancer on Tuesday, Oct. 22 at the age of 75. "I would say the number of people at his service is a real testimony to the kind of person he was," said his pastor, the Rev. R. Miles Cook, of Park Hill Christian Church. "There were friends that came from as far as Waco, Texas, and that people would drive that far, that shows you the kind of friend he was and what he meant to people." Tenacious and unflappable, he had battled cancer three different times, but would just keep on working. "Go by Carti for radiation and then drive on to Texarkana to pick up a train, with the red markings from the radiation still on his neck," his wife recalled. Still he found time for the Masons and the American Legion, and loved nothing more than a good golf game. "We joined the North Hills Country Club," Mrs. Haynie said, "and he became an excellent golfer. He's the only one I know of that made three holes-in-one there, and two of them were on the same hole." A stroke in 1989 left him legally blind and unable to drive or play golf anymore, but Mr. Haynie refused to sit idle. After therapy helped him regain the use of his right arm, he bought saws and other tools, and began building birdhouses. "He loved birds," Mrs. Haynie said. "He built mostly [purple] martin houses, and gave most all of them away to friends or family." Up to the end, he was remarkable in his thoughtfulness, the Rev. Cook recalled, even when he became desperately ill. "I know there were times he didn't even feel like talking, but not ever did he ask me to come back at another time," he recalled of his visits to Mr. Haynie's bedside. "He always welcomed me. He was a strong Christian Man, and a loving family man." Besides his wife, Mr. Haynie is survived by his son, R.L. "Bob" Haynie of North Little Rock, a brother, Charles L. Haynie of Morrilton, three grandchildren, Deborah Morales, Shane Winstead and R.L. "Bobby" Hanie, Jr. and four great-grandchildren. He was a member of Park Hill Christian Church, Gurdon Masonic Lodge #187, and the American Legion. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II in the 720th Railway Operating Battallion. Funeral services were held at the North Little Rock Funeral Home on Friday, Oct. 25, with the Rev. Cook officiating, and a Masonic service was held at the grave side. Burial was in Rest Hills Memorial Park. The Times - Oct. 31, 1996
CHARLES LINDSAY
By Jeannie Nugent
BENNIE RUDD
MARIE TODD COOKTireless and generous church worker, 69, dies
L.B. "LOYLE" HAYNIE
By Linda Mills