November 4, 2011 OBITUARIES


FORT SMITH Bryan B. Hightower Bryan Bedell Hightower, 84, passed away on


Saturday, Sept. 10, 2011, in Fort Smith. He was born Sept. 28, 1926, in Hartman to Bryan


Elijah and Rachel Francis Cline Hightower. He was a retired controller for Armour Meat Co. and later W.R. Grace. He was a veteran of the U.S. Army, serving during the Korean War. A founder, charter member


Bryan Hightower


and teacher of the Win One Sunday School Class, he served as a leader of Wesley UMC Fort Smith. His civic activities included playing on the semipro South Fort Smith baseball team, T e Smokers,


coaching various Boys Club teams and being a member of the American Legion. He spent the last 10 years of life battling Parkinson’s disease. He is survived by his wife, Iris Hightower of Fort


Smith, a retired Deaconess in the United Methodist Church; two sons, Roger Hightower of Fayetteville and Daryl Hightower and his wife, Lisa, of Sheridan; and one granddaughter, Sarah Hightower of Little Rock. He was preceded in death by his brothers and sister, Hoyle, William and Francis. A funeral service was held Tuesday, Sept. 13,


2011, at Wesley UMC with the Rev. Matthew Daniels offi ciating. Interment followed at the U.S. National Cemetery, Fort Smith. Pallbearers were Rick, Steve, Hoyle Wayne, Bryan,


and Richie Hightower and Jeff Harris. Honorary pallbearers were the Win One Sunday School Class and T e Smokers Baseball Team. Memorials may be made to Wesley UMC, 2200


Phoenix, Fort Smith, AR 72901, or to the Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, 4905 North O Street, Fort Smith, AR 72904.


LITTLE ROCK George F. Ivey T e Rev. Dr. George Franklin Ivey, 94, passed


away T ursday, Sept. 29, 2011, following a long illness. Born on Oct. 12, 1916, in Graceville, Fla., he was a


graduate of Alabama State College and John Brown University in Siloam Springs. He received his Masters and Ph.D. in family counseling from Florida State University and an honorary Doctor of Divinity from John Brown. He did postgraduate work at Harvard and Princeton Universities and attended seminary at Southern Methodist and Southwestern Universities. He served as a chaplain in the


George Ivey


U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, including combat postings in the South Pacifi c and the Philippines, and reached the rank of Major. During his military


service he was awarded three campaign ribbons, two unit citations and six battle stars. Near the end of the war, he toured the country raising money for War Bonds and was repeatedly honored by the U.S. Secretary of Treasury for his outstanding contributions.


www.arumc.org Ivey entered the Methodist Conference in


Abilene, Texas in 1938 and served several churches in west Texas before becoming vice president of Centenary College in Shreveport, La. He served at First UMCs in Springdale, Camden, Hot Springs and Fort Smith, and as superintendent of the Fort Smith District. He retired in 1981. He is survived by his wife of 71 years, Doris; a


son, David, of Fredericksburg, Va.; two granddaughters, Patty Landry of Little Rock and Jennifer Farrar of Locust Grove, Va.; four great- granddaughters; and a brother, Charles Edward Ivey, of Graceville, Fla.. His elder son, G. Frank, Jr., of Little Rock, preceded him in death. A member of the Arkansas Conference, he


connected with St. James United Methodist Church Little Rock in retirement. He was a Life Member of the Fort Smith Rotary Club, the American Legion, was a 32nd degree Mason, the York Rite Shriners, the Knights Templar and Red Cross of Constantine. He was a member emeritus of the Board of Regents of John Brown University and pastor emeritus of First UMC Fort Smith. A memorial service was held Monday, Oct. 3 at St.


James UMC Little Rock, with inurnment at the St. James Columbarium. T e Rev. Siegfried Johnson offi ciated. Memorials may be given to St. James UMC, 321


Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock, AR 72212, or Arkansas Hospice, 14 Parkstone Circle, North Little Rock, AR 72116.


STAMPS Terry G. Mann T e Rev. Terry Gene Mann, 51, passed away on


T ursday, Sept. 29, 2011, at his residence aſt er a long battle with cancer. He earned a Bachelors degree in Psychology from


Henderson State University and a Master of Divinity degree from Memphis T eological Seminary. He had previously served several communities in southern and eastern Arkansas through his 21 years of pastoral service, and served as pastor of First UMC Stamps at the time of his death. He was a beloved Christian, minister, mentor, son, brother, husband, father, uncle and friend. Survivors include his wife,


Terry Mann


Vicki Mann, and son, William, both of Stamps; a daughter, Gracie Mann of Glendale, Ore., his parents, Eugene and Marie Mann of Saff ell; two brothers, Mark Mann and his wife, Joyce, of Jonesboro, and David Mann and his wife, Kathy, of Longview, Texas; three step-children, Tera Morgan of Lynn, Joshua Walker and Jacob Huskey of Jonesboro; and many loved ones and friends. He was preceded in death by his sister, Brenda Mann Jones. Funeral services were held Sunday, Oct. 2 in


Jonesboro, with Brother Fred Dover and Brother Don Vuncannon offi ciating. Burial was private. For memorials, please consider a giſt to Salem


UMC, P.O. Box 49, Wheatley, AR 72392, or First UMC, P.O. Box 366, Stamps, AR 71860.


11A


NOMADS meet, work, plan at Mount Eagle Five pairs of


Arkansas NOMADS (Nomads on a Mission Active in Divine Service) on Oct. 2 met at Mount Eagle Retreat Center near Clinton for a week of work and fellowship. Beginning each day with devotional time, the group did maintenance on the primitive campground, cleaned lodges and cabins and used the sawmill to cut lumber for a new pavilion being constructed. T e group met with Conference Volunteers in Mission coordinator Don


John Hardin, Paul Bauer and Don Brown, all members of NOMADS, use the sawmill at Mount Eagle Retreat Center to cut lumber for on-site construction.


PHOTO BY DORIS JUNE


Weeks, who made a proposal for some rebuilding needed for recovery from a tornado in the Etna area (see story on page 5A). In response to that need, Arkansas NOMADS are setting up a Revolving Team Project (RTP) for the site. An RTP provides a steady presence of workers for four to six months, with crews taking shiſt s as short as one week.


Alvin Murray sermon collection published Re-Digging Wells, a collection of selected sermons by the


Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Murray Jr., has been published and is now available through Amazon.com. Murray was a United Methodist minister in Arkansas,


serving from the 1940s until his death in 1998. T e title of the book comes from one of the sermons in


the collection. “Digging the Wells Again” centers on a passage from Genesis 26, when Isaac inherits the responsibilities of Abraham aſt er his father’s death. “T ere are two ‘inheritance’ sermons in the book,”


Alvin C. Murray


Stephen Murray, son of the late Dr. Murray and the book’s editor. “T ey really kind of alter your viewpoint about what we should be thinking about when we think of what we are going to leave for future generations.” For information about the book, which is available in paperback or as a Kindle e-book, visit re-diggingwells.com.


Did you know? Ark. UM Museum facts


• In its 17-year history, the United Methodist Museum of Arkansas has made its home at three diff erent church buildings: Quapaw Quarter UMC Little Rock, Asbury UMC Batesville and now First UMC Little Rock.


• T e museum originally had no formal ties to the Conference Commission on Archives and History. T anks to a reorganization made offi cial during the 2011 Annual Conference, that arrangement has changed. T e museum now exists in relationship to the Conference Commission, as do the Conference Archives, which are stored and maintained in Conway at Hendrix College’s Bailey Library, and the Arkansas United Methodist Historical Society.


• Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, marks the offi cial opening of the museum’s new home at First UMC Little Rock. Look for details in the Dec. 2 issue of the Arkansas United Methodist.


Arkansas United Methodist


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