Albert Rogers Yarnell
(A correction has been made to this article. See end for details.)
Albert Rogers Yarnell, who helped build his father’s Yarnell Ice Cream Co. of Searcy into a regional success and a name synonymous with Arkansas and ice cream, died Sunday at the age of 94.
Yarnell, who was also a civic leader serving his hometown of Searcy and the state, spent more than 75 years at the company bought by his father, Ray Yarnell, in 1932, the height of the Depression in Arkansas. Albert Yarnell oversaw the company’s first major plant expansion in 1951 and became president in 1974 after his father’s death.
He was an inductee in the Arkansas Business Hall of Fame at the University of Arkansas and was among Arkansas Business’ 25 Living Legends in its 25th anniversary issue in 2009.
And even after the privately held Yarnell Ice Cream Co. closed in 2011, later declaring bankruptcy, Yarnell served as an adviser to the new owners, the Schulze & Burch Biscuit Co. of Chicago, which bought the assets of the company in 2012. “He has been a tremendous resource,” Kevin Boyle, the president and CEO of Schulze & Burch, told Arkansas Business in 2014. “He’s provided invaluable counsel to us as we’ve brought the brand back.”
Yarnell said that offering advice to Schulze & Burch “just seemed like the right thing to do” for a company that is located in his hometown. “It’s what I was trained to do my whole life,” said Yarnell, a past president of the Searcy Chamber of Commerce.
Albert Yarnell graduated from Searcy High School in 1941 and then attended Kemper Military School & College in Boonville, Missouri. He served his country in World War II, “decoding top-secret messages in China,” according to his obituary. In a 2007 Arkansas Business profile of the company, Yarnell said he served in the Army in the China-Burma-India theater during the war.
After the war ended, Yarnell completed a degree in dairy science at the University of Missouri and came to work full time for the family company.
Yarnell Ice Cream and the Yarnell family were known for their community involvement. In the 2007 profile, Watson Bell, a Searcy lawyer and family friend, told Arkansas Business:
“For many years they were one of the very few industries in Searcy, in this region, and they were always willing to share. They were always willing to try to attract industry to this region. … They realized that in order for Searcy to progress they needed to attract new business. … One reason Searcy is where it is is because they helped attract new business,” Bell said.
“They believed and demonstrated that what was good for Searcy was good for Yarnell’s and vice versa, and not only Searcy but Arkansas. And if everybody prospered they prospered.”
Yarnell also was a civic leader, serving as chairman of the Baptist Medical System board of directors in 2000 and as a member of the board for more than 40 years. He was a past president of the Searcy Lion’s Club and served as mayor of Searcy.
Yarnell was named Scottish Rite Citizen of the Year in 1996 and served as president of the Arkansas Dairy Products Association and was named to its hall of fame. In 2004, he was inducted into the Searcy Public Schools Education Foundation Hall of Honor as a distinguished alumnus.
Visitation and a celebration of Yarnell’s life are planned for 12:30 to 2 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 11, at the family ministry center at First Baptist Church in Searcy, with funeral at 2:15 p.m. in the church sanctuary. Powell Funeral Home of Searcy is handling the arrangements.
Yarnell’s obituary can be read here.
(Correction, Jan. 15, 2018: Using information from the funeral home, the original article gave the wrong name and location for a school Yarnell attended. It was Kemper Military School & College in Boonville, Missouri.)
Sign up for Daily E-news
