I am the daughter of Ila Merle Vestal Knox, who was a local historian and genealogy buff. She served as Librarian of the Strong Public Library for over 25 years. She compiled two family booklets: one on the Gathrights of South AR, her maternal line, and one on the Vestals of South AR, her paternal line. Her best-known published book was "History of Strong, Arkansas -- 75 Years", which is now out of print. (Copies may be found at all of the public libraries in Union County, AR.) My mother spent countless hours collecting information from relatives, friends, acquaintances, and former residents of the county (not to mention trips to cemeteries) in order to have the most accurate facts for her books. My objective, as a contributor for Find-A-Grave, is to share this information (and my own) with other contributors and persons seeking family information. I've mainly focused on helping link parents, spouses and children to existing memorials, but I also enjoy creating memorials when I see a need and have the info. I believe that we, as Find-A-Grave Contributors, should strive to present pleasing and informative memorials for whoever is viewing them. Each tombstone tells the partial story of a life; tombstone photos help preserve memories and personal information and greatly enhance any memorial. I'm indebted to several persons who have added tombstone photos and personal photos to some of the memorials I've created. THANK YOU!

My mom, Ila Merle Vestal Knox, also wrote a memoir entitled "My Farm Life Treasures", which has recently been professionally published, and will be available hopefully by early June, 2023. If anyone would like to purchase one of these, you may contact Find-A-Grave Contributor Mike Burson. You can click on his icon below to contact him.

I am the daughter of Ila Merle Vestal Knox, who was a local historian and genealogy buff. She served as Librarian of the Strong Public Library for over 25 years. She compiled two family booklets: one on the Gathrights of South AR, her maternal line, and one on the Vestals of South AR, her paternal line. Her best-known published book was "History of Strong, Arkansas -- 75 Years", which is now out of print. (Copies may be found at all of the public libraries in Union County, AR.) My mother spent countless hours collecting information from relatives, friends, acquaintances, and former residents of the county (not to mention trips to cemeteries) in order to have the most accurate facts for her books. My objective, as a contributor for Find-A-Grave, is to share this information (and my own) with other contributors and persons seeking family information. I've mainly focused on helping link parents, spouses and children to existing memorials, but I also enjoy creating memorials when I see a need and have the info. I believe that we, as Find-A-Grave Contributors, should strive to present pleasing and informative memorials for whoever is viewing them. Each tombstone tells the partial story of a life; tombstone photos help preserve memories and personal information and greatly enhance any memorial. I'm indebted to several persons who have added tombstone photos and personal photos to some of the memorials I've created. THANK YOU!

My mom, Ila Merle Vestal Knox, also wrote a memoir entitled "My Farm Life Treasures", which has recently been professionally published, and will be available hopefully by early June, 2023. If anyone would like to purchase one of these, you may contact Find-A-Grave Contributor Mike Burson. You can click on his icon below to contact him.