Ethel May Pledger, age 100, died Tuesday, March 1, 2005 in the Hillcrest Care and Rehab at Prescott, her life spanning more than a century.
She was born on a farm in Holly Springs, July 19, 1904, the fourth of six children. The family moved to Fordyce when she was 10 years old. Suffering from ill health as a child, her longevity was an irony that escaped no one, especially Ethel herself.
In 1922, Ethel attended Arkansas Teachers College in Conway, which at the time offered only a two year program. She later returned to Conway to earn her full Bachelor of Science Degree in education.
A dedicated teacher, she inspired primary school students for 45 years. Ethel, an independent-minded career woman, was in many ways ahead of her time. She began teaching in Holly Springs, but was very shortly recruited by a Norphlet school system during the town's oil boom of the early to mid 1920's. Because of its prosperity at the time, the community of Norphlet was able to hire top instructors from other locations by supplying them with housing in dormitories called "teacheries" and by paying all of their living expenses.
In time, the school in Norphlet was completely destroyed by a tornado and Ethel joined with the rest of the teaching staff in safely evacuating the children to an alternate building nearby. She went on to teach in Warren and finally in Camden.
Ethel retired from teaching in 1969 and returned to Fordyce. She was very active in and had a great love for the First Methodist Church of Fordyce, where she was part of the Wesleyans. She remained in Fordyce in the family home until 1997 when she made the move to Prescott to be near her family.
Ethel Pledger was preceded in death by her parents, May Patterson Pledger and Folden Oscar Pledger; brothers and sisters, Sadie Jewell Pledger Goodgame, Myrtice Maude Pledger, Elbert Patterson Pledger, George Harold Pledger and Reece Lynton Pledger.
She will be missed immensely by a host of nieces and nephews and by her many friends at Hillcrest Care and Rehab of Prescott. Ethel leaves behind a strong legacy of honesty, determination and great humor.
Graveside services will be held at Oakland Cemetery, Fordyce, Arkansas. Arrangements by Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home, Prescott, Ark. Memorials may be made to Fordyce United Methodist Church, 104 East 4th Street, Fordyce, Ark. 71742.
She was born on a farm in Holly Springs, July 19, 1904, the fourth of six children. The family moved to Fordyce when she was 10 years old. Suffering from ill health as a child, her longevity was an irony that escaped no one, especially Ethel herself.
In 1922, Ethel attended Arkansas Teachers College in Conway, which at the time offered only a two year program. She later returned to Conway to earn her full Bachelor of Science Degree in education.
A dedicated teacher, she inspired primary school students for 45 years. Ethel, an independent-minded career woman, was in many ways ahead of her time. She began teaching in Holly Springs, but was very shortly recruited by a Norphlet school system during the town's oil boom of the early to mid 1920's. Because of its prosperity at the time, the community of Norphlet was able to hire top instructors from other locations by supplying them with housing in dormitories called "teacheries" and by paying all of their living expenses.
In time, the school in Norphlet was completely destroyed by a tornado and Ethel joined with the rest of the teaching staff in safely evacuating the children to an alternate building nearby. She went on to teach in Warren and finally in Camden.
Ethel retired from teaching in 1969 and returned to Fordyce. She was very active in and had a great love for the First Methodist Church of Fordyce, where she was part of the Wesleyans. She remained in Fordyce in the family home until 1997 when she made the move to Prescott to be near her family.
Ethel Pledger was preceded in death by her parents, May Patterson Pledger and Folden Oscar Pledger; brothers and sisters, Sadie Jewell Pledger Goodgame, Myrtice Maude Pledger, Elbert Patterson Pledger, George Harold Pledger and Reece Lynton Pledger.
She will be missed immensely by a host of nieces and nephews and by her many friends at Hillcrest Care and Rehab of Prescott. Ethel leaves behind a strong legacy of honesty, determination and great humor.
Graveside services will be held at Oakland Cemetery, Fordyce, Arkansas. Arrangements by Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home, Prescott, Ark. Memorials may be made to Fordyce United Methodist Church, 104 East 4th Street, Fordyce, Ark. 71742.
Ethel May Pledger, age 100, died Tuesday, March 1, 2005 in the Hillcrest Care and Rehab at Prescott, her life spanning more than a century.
She was born on a farm in Holly Springs, July 19, 1904, the fourth of six children. The family moved to Fordyce when she was 10 years old. Suffering from ill health as a child, her longevity was an irony that escaped no one, especially Ethel herself.
In 1922, Ethel attended Arkansas Teachers College in Conway, which at the time offered only a two year program. She later returned to Conway to earn her full Bachelor of Science Degree in education.
A dedicated teacher, she inspired primary school students for 45 years. Ethel, an independent-minded career woman, was in many ways ahead of her time. She began teaching in Holly Springs, but was very shortly recruited by a Norphlet school system during the town's oil boom of the early to mid 1920's. Because of its prosperity at the time, the community of Norphlet was able to hire top instructors from other locations by supplying them with housing in dormitories called "teacheries" and by paying all of their living expenses.
In time, the school in Norphlet was completely destroyed by a tornado and Ethel joined with the rest of the teaching staff in safely evacuating the children to an alternate building nearby. She went on to teach in Warren and finally in Camden.
Ethel retired from teaching in 1969 and returned to Fordyce. She was very active in and had a great love for the First Methodist Church of Fordyce, where she was part of the Wesleyans. She remained in Fordyce in the family home until 1997 when she made the move to Prescott to be near her family.
Ethel Pledger was preceded in death by her parents, May Patterson Pledger and Folden Oscar Pledger; brothers and sisters, Sadie Jewell Pledger Goodgame, Myrtice Maude Pledger, Elbert Patterson Pledger, George Harold Pledger and Reece Lynton Pledger.
She will be missed immensely by a host of nieces and nephews and by her many friends at Hillcrest Care and Rehab of Prescott. Ethel leaves behind a strong legacy of honesty, determination and great humor.
Graveside services will be held at Oakland Cemetery, Fordyce, Arkansas. Arrangements by Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home, Prescott, Ark. Memorials may be made to Fordyce United Methodist Church, 104 East 4th Street, Fordyce, Ark. 71742.
She was born on a farm in Holly Springs, July 19, 1904, the fourth of six children. The family moved to Fordyce when she was 10 years old. Suffering from ill health as a child, her longevity was an irony that escaped no one, especially Ethel herself.
In 1922, Ethel attended Arkansas Teachers College in Conway, which at the time offered only a two year program. She later returned to Conway to earn her full Bachelor of Science Degree in education.
A dedicated teacher, she inspired primary school students for 45 years. Ethel, an independent-minded career woman, was in many ways ahead of her time. She began teaching in Holly Springs, but was very shortly recruited by a Norphlet school system during the town's oil boom of the early to mid 1920's. Because of its prosperity at the time, the community of Norphlet was able to hire top instructors from other locations by supplying them with housing in dormitories called "teacheries" and by paying all of their living expenses.
In time, the school in Norphlet was completely destroyed by a tornado and Ethel joined with the rest of the teaching staff in safely evacuating the children to an alternate building nearby. She went on to teach in Warren and finally in Camden.
Ethel retired from teaching in 1969 and returned to Fordyce. She was very active in and had a great love for the First Methodist Church of Fordyce, where she was part of the Wesleyans. She remained in Fordyce in the family home until 1997 when she made the move to Prescott to be near her family.
Ethel Pledger was preceded in death by her parents, May Patterson Pledger and Folden Oscar Pledger; brothers and sisters, Sadie Jewell Pledger Goodgame, Myrtice Maude Pledger, Elbert Patterson Pledger, George Harold Pledger and Reece Lynton Pledger.
She will be missed immensely by a host of nieces and nephews and by her many friends at Hillcrest Care and Rehab of Prescott. Ethel leaves behind a strong legacy of honesty, determination and great humor.
Graveside services will be held at Oakland Cemetery, Fordyce, Arkansas. Arrangements by Brazzel/Cornish Funeral Home, Prescott, Ark. Memorials may be made to Fordyce United Methodist Church, 104 East 4th Street, Fordyce, Ark. 71742.
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