Eva Hudgens Dixon McGraw, 92, of Stephens, died on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008, at Hudson Memorial Nursing Home in El Dorado, Arkansas.
Mrs. McGraw was born on Jan. 4, 1916, in Waldo, Arkansas, the daughter of John and Nannie Hyde Hudgens. She was a lifelong resident of South Arkansas, where she received her education and taught school for 60 years influencing the lives of hundreds of children.
She was the first in her family of seven children to get a college education and a tremendous influence on her siblings, their children and her own eight children, encouraging them to get an education. She encouraged her students by emphasizing how much effort you apply was more important than how smart you were. She often told her children, "You are smart enough to do anything you want to do."
She received her education during a difficult time, the Great Depression. She started her college education by borrowing $25 from a local farmer, which she repaid by chopping and picking cotton. She was a 1936 graduate of the Magnolia 3rd District A & M School, which later became Southern Arkansas University.
She went back to college at night and on weekends to gain her BSE from Southern State College in 1955.
She later received her master's degree in education from Ouachita Baptist University in 1971. She also had additional training in speech therapy, and special education. Well into her 80s, she worked part time at Stephens Elementary School and Mount Holly School as a speech therapist and special education teacher. Mrs. McGraw was a member of First United Methodist Church in Stephens, the Arkansas Education Association and the Stephens Classroom Teachers Association, where she was former president.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband and father of her seven sons and one daughter, Fred Dixon; her second husband, John McGraw; two brothers, Burl and Alvis Hudgens; and two sisters, Roma Aubrey and Wilma Dumas.
Survivors include her sons, Jim Dixon and wife, Margaret, of Jonesboro, Joe Dixon and wife, Mercie, of Lake Charles, La., Robert Dixon and wife, Anoel, of El Dorado, Lt. Col. Ret. William Dixon and wife, Alona, of Alexandria, La., John Dixon and wife, Jan, of Humble, Texas, Tommy Dixon and wife, Diana, of Humble and Dr. Mark Dixon and wife, Debbie, of El Dorado; her daughter, Nan Alexander of Jacksonville; her sister, Doris (Susie) Grimmett and husband, Harold, of El Dorado; her brother, Joe Hudgens and wife, Sue, of Texarkana; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, former students, friends, and supportive neighbor, Dorothy Sanders, and caregivers, Sissy McMahen, Trisha Sprayberry, Dorothy Scott and Mary Lyons.
Funeral was at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 7, 2008, at First United Methodist Church in Stephens, Arkansas, with Allen Grimmett officiating.
Mrs. McGraw was born on Jan. 4, 1916, in Waldo, Arkansas, the daughter of John and Nannie Hyde Hudgens. She was a lifelong resident of South Arkansas, where she received her education and taught school for 60 years influencing the lives of hundreds of children.
She was the first in her family of seven children to get a college education and a tremendous influence on her siblings, their children and her own eight children, encouraging them to get an education. She encouraged her students by emphasizing how much effort you apply was more important than how smart you were. She often told her children, "You are smart enough to do anything you want to do."
She received her education during a difficult time, the Great Depression. She started her college education by borrowing $25 from a local farmer, which she repaid by chopping and picking cotton. She was a 1936 graduate of the Magnolia 3rd District A & M School, which later became Southern Arkansas University.
She went back to college at night and on weekends to gain her BSE from Southern State College in 1955.
She later received her master's degree in education from Ouachita Baptist University in 1971. She also had additional training in speech therapy, and special education. Well into her 80s, she worked part time at Stephens Elementary School and Mount Holly School as a speech therapist and special education teacher. Mrs. McGraw was a member of First United Methodist Church in Stephens, the Arkansas Education Association and the Stephens Classroom Teachers Association, where she was former president.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband and father of her seven sons and one daughter, Fred Dixon; her second husband, John McGraw; two brothers, Burl and Alvis Hudgens; and two sisters, Roma Aubrey and Wilma Dumas.
Survivors include her sons, Jim Dixon and wife, Margaret, of Jonesboro, Joe Dixon and wife, Mercie, of Lake Charles, La., Robert Dixon and wife, Anoel, of El Dorado, Lt. Col. Ret. William Dixon and wife, Alona, of Alexandria, La., John Dixon and wife, Jan, of Humble, Texas, Tommy Dixon and wife, Diana, of Humble and Dr. Mark Dixon and wife, Debbie, of El Dorado; her daughter, Nan Alexander of Jacksonville; her sister, Doris (Susie) Grimmett and husband, Harold, of El Dorado; her brother, Joe Hudgens and wife, Sue, of Texarkana; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, former students, friends, and supportive neighbor, Dorothy Sanders, and caregivers, Sissy McMahen, Trisha Sprayberry, Dorothy Scott and Mary Lyons.
Funeral was at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 7, 2008, at First United Methodist Church in Stephens, Arkansas, with Allen Grimmett officiating.
Eva Hudgens Dixon McGraw, 92, of Stephens, died on Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008, at Hudson Memorial Nursing Home in El Dorado, Arkansas.
Mrs. McGraw was born on Jan. 4, 1916, in Waldo, Arkansas, the daughter of John and Nannie Hyde Hudgens. She was a lifelong resident of South Arkansas, where she received her education and taught school for 60 years influencing the lives of hundreds of children.
She was the first in her family of seven children to get a college education and a tremendous influence on her siblings, their children and her own eight children, encouraging them to get an education. She encouraged her students by emphasizing how much effort you apply was more important than how smart you were. She often told her children, "You are smart enough to do anything you want to do."
She received her education during a difficult time, the Great Depression. She started her college education by borrowing $25 from a local farmer, which she repaid by chopping and picking cotton. She was a 1936 graduate of the Magnolia 3rd District A & M School, which later became Southern Arkansas University.
She went back to college at night and on weekends to gain her BSE from Southern State College in 1955.
She later received her master's degree in education from Ouachita Baptist University in 1971. She also had additional training in speech therapy, and special education. Well into her 80s, she worked part time at Stephens Elementary School and Mount Holly School as a speech therapist and special education teacher. Mrs. McGraw was a member of First United Methodist Church in Stephens, the Arkansas Education Association and the Stephens Classroom Teachers Association, where she was former president.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband and father of her seven sons and one daughter, Fred Dixon; her second husband, John McGraw; two brothers, Burl and Alvis Hudgens; and two sisters, Roma Aubrey and Wilma Dumas.
Survivors include her sons, Jim Dixon and wife, Margaret, of Jonesboro, Joe Dixon and wife, Mercie, of Lake Charles, La., Robert Dixon and wife, Anoel, of El Dorado, Lt. Col. Ret. William Dixon and wife, Alona, of Alexandria, La., John Dixon and wife, Jan, of Humble, Texas, Tommy Dixon and wife, Diana, of Humble and Dr. Mark Dixon and wife, Debbie, of El Dorado; her daughter, Nan Alexander of Jacksonville; her sister, Doris (Susie) Grimmett and husband, Harold, of El Dorado; her brother, Joe Hudgens and wife, Sue, of Texarkana; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, former students, friends, and supportive neighbor, Dorothy Sanders, and caregivers, Sissy McMahen, Trisha Sprayberry, Dorothy Scott and Mary Lyons.
Funeral was at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 7, 2008, at First United Methodist Church in Stephens, Arkansas, with Allen Grimmett officiating.
Mrs. McGraw was born on Jan. 4, 1916, in Waldo, Arkansas, the daughter of John and Nannie Hyde Hudgens. She was a lifelong resident of South Arkansas, where she received her education and taught school for 60 years influencing the lives of hundreds of children.
She was the first in her family of seven children to get a college education and a tremendous influence on her siblings, their children and her own eight children, encouraging them to get an education. She encouraged her students by emphasizing how much effort you apply was more important than how smart you were. She often told her children, "You are smart enough to do anything you want to do."
She received her education during a difficult time, the Great Depression. She started her college education by borrowing $25 from a local farmer, which she repaid by chopping and picking cotton. She was a 1936 graduate of the Magnolia 3rd District A & M School, which later became Southern Arkansas University.
She went back to college at night and on weekends to gain her BSE from Southern State College in 1955.
She later received her master's degree in education from Ouachita Baptist University in 1971. She also had additional training in speech therapy, and special education. Well into her 80s, she worked part time at Stephens Elementary School and Mount Holly School as a speech therapist and special education teacher. Mrs. McGraw was a member of First United Methodist Church in Stephens, the Arkansas Education Association and the Stephens Classroom Teachers Association, where she was former president.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by her first husband and father of her seven sons and one daughter, Fred Dixon; her second husband, John McGraw; two brothers, Burl and Alvis Hudgens; and two sisters, Roma Aubrey and Wilma Dumas.
Survivors include her sons, Jim Dixon and wife, Margaret, of Jonesboro, Joe Dixon and wife, Mercie, of Lake Charles, La., Robert Dixon and wife, Anoel, of El Dorado, Lt. Col. Ret. William Dixon and wife, Alona, of Alexandria, La., John Dixon and wife, Jan, of Humble, Texas, Tommy Dixon and wife, Diana, of Humble and Dr. Mark Dixon and wife, Debbie, of El Dorado; her daughter, Nan Alexander of Jacksonville; her sister, Doris (Susie) Grimmett and husband, Harold, of El Dorado; her brother, Joe Hudgens and wife, Sue, of Texarkana; 13 grandchildren; 12 great-grandchildren; and a host of nieces, nephews, former students, friends, and supportive neighbor, Dorothy Sanders, and caregivers, Sissy McMahen, Trisha Sprayberry, Dorothy Scott and Mary Lyons.
Funeral was at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, October 7, 2008, at First United Methodist Church in Stephens, Arkansas, with Allen Grimmett officiating.
Family Members
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