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Arkansas Business Year in Review: Notable Deaths of 2017

12 min read

Frank Broyles, the giant of Arkansas sports, was among the notable Arkansans who died this year.

Also passing this year were Oaklawn’s Charles Cella, Arkansas journalist Roy Reed, Aromatique founder Patti Upton and Townsend Wolfe, who headed the Arkansas Arts Center from 1968-2002 and was a transformative figure in the arts in the state.

 January

Stanley Russ of Conway, who served in the Arkansas Senate from 1975 through 2000, died Jan. 5 at the age of 86. He was president pro tempore of the Senate and occasionally served as acting governor. Russ was highly regarded as a lawmaker and was known for his support of education. He was in the life insurance business and raised cattle. He was elected to the Agriculture Hall of Fame in 2000.

Fred Vorsanger, former mayor of Fayetteville, died Jan. 12 at the age of 88. He was mayor from 1989 through 1992, was vice president of financial affairs at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for many years and was an executive director of the University of Arkansas Foundation. Vorsanger helped oversee the construction of Bud Walton Arena and managed it until he retired in 2009.

Townsend Wolfe, a longtime director of the Arkansas Arts Center and a transformative figure in the arts in Arkansas, died Jan. 14 at his home in Little Rock. He was 81.

He headed the Arts Center from 1968 until his retirement in 2002. During his tenure Wolfe transformed the Arts Center and, with his patrician bearing and aristocratic South Carolina drawl, came in many ways to represent the visual arts in Arkansas.

One of his chief accomplishments was in identifying an area in which the Arts Center could lead and focusing on collecting great artworks on paper, making the center’s collection one of the best in the world. Wolfe cultivated wealthy art lovers but he also courted the public, working to draw crowds to the center and to make the Arts Center an essential element of the arts in Arkansas. Annual attendance at exhibits during his time leading the center grew from 80,000 to 343,000, while the value of the Art Center’s collection rose to $35 million and the Arkansas Arts Center Foundation endowment grew to $21 million.

Gary Middleton, who founded Magna IV Color Imaging in Little Rock and built it into one of the largest print and marketing businesses in the mid-South, died Jan. 16 at age 69. Magna IV, which expanded from commercial printing into direct mail, graphic design, web-to-print services and cross-media marketing over more than 40 years, now employs more than 70 workers. The company acquired several prominent printers in the region over the years, including Diversatype in 1991, International Graphics in 1997, Parkin Printing in 1998 and Peerless Engraving in 2007.

 February

Joe Yates of Fayetteville, a former state senator called a “stalwart” of the Arkansas Republican Party, died Feb. 3 at the age of 78. Yates won his seat in the Arkansas Senate in 1982, one of only three Republicans in the chamber at that time. Yates was vice president of the Arkansas Poultry Federation while serving in the Senate and later became president of the federation. He also was an executive with Cooper Communities.

After retiring from the Senate in 1994, he served for a time as associate dean of the College of Agriculture at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

Bobby Ferguson, mayor of Texarkana from 1974 through 1992, died Feb. 14 at age 84. He also served on the city board of directors from 1968 through 1974, as well as on the Miller County Quorum Court.

 March

David Solomon, a prominent Helena lawyer, died March 23 at the age of 100. He was admitted to the bar in 1939 and practiced until 2015. The Arkansas Bar Foundation honored him in 2014 for his 75 years of active practice, which was thought to be a record. Solomon twice served as a special justice for the Arkansas Supreme Court and was a delegate to the Arkansas State Constitutional Convention in 1969. He also was a member of the Arkansas Highway Commission, serving as chairman in 1984-85.

 April

Betty Fowler, a longtime Arkansas TV host and entertainer, died April 15 at the age of 91. Fowler, who lived in Little Rock, hosted the children’s show “Betty’s Little Rascals” in the 1950s and KARK-TV’s “Little Rock Today.” She performed with her band, the Betty Fowler Four, and was musical director of the Miss Arkansas Pageant for 24 years and of the Farkleberry Follies, a stage show that satirized politicians and others in the news, and the Gridiron Show, also a satirical show put on by members of the legal profession.

Jay Dickey, who represented Arkansas’ 4th Congressional District from 1993 through 2001, died April 20. Dickey, of Pine Bluff, was 77. He was known for his opposition to abortion and as a supporter of gun rights. The 1996 Dickey Amendment, as it came to be known, prevented the federal Centers for Disease Control from studying the effects of gun violence; since then the CDC hasn’t approved any study of the subject. In 2012, however, after 12 people were killed in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, Dickey had a change of heart and co-wrote an essay in the Washington Post calling for research into the causes of gun violence. Dickey was a lawyer and a businessman who owned a number of restaurant franchises.

 May

Patti Upton, founder of multimillion-dollar company Aromatique, died May 23 at her home on Eden Isle in Heber Springs. She was 79. The Jonesboro native was inducted into the Arkansas Women’s Hall of Fame and Arkansas Business Hall of Fame last year.

Although she stepped down as president and chief executive officer of Aromatique in 2013, Upton remained a stockholder of the company she started nearly 35 years ago.

Before Aromatique, American women brought fragrance to their homes mostly by using live flowers. Upton changed the industry with decorative fragrances in open bowls, as well as fragranced candles. Following her successful launch of Aromatique, Upton was recognized by Working Woman magazine, the International Women’s Forum, the Society of Entrepreneurs, the Easter Seal Society, Scottish Rite Masons of Arkansas and many other organizations. In addition, she was a philanthropist, creating “The Natural State” fragrance line in 1993 in part to benefit The Nature Conservancy. Since the line’s launch at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City, more than $1 million has been donated to the organization.

Dotty Oliver of Little Rock, founder in 1993 of the Little Rock Free Press, which became the alternative weekly the Arkansas Free Press in 2005, died May 29. She was 69. Oliver was known as an iconoclast and as a nurturer of local writers. The Free Press shut down in 2008 but was relaunched in 2011 as an online publication.

 June

Bob Sells of Little Rock, a longtime public relations executive and community activist, died June 26. He was 84. Sells had a 30-year career in the PR department of Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. and after his retirement in 1990 opened his own public relations and marketing agency, now known as the Sells Agency. He was active in the Public Relations Society of America, was inducted into the national PRSA College of Fellows and started the Prism Award competition. Sells also helped organize the Arkansas Chapter of Sigma Delta Chi (now the Society of Professional Journalists). Several family members followed in his footsteps. Mike Sells, his son, is owner and CEO of the Sells Agency. Stacy Sells, his daughter, is a freelance communications strategist, researcher and public relations writer. She left CJRW of Little Rock as senior vice president of strategic planning after 17 years with the firm.

Sells’ wife, Georgia Sells, a well-known real estate agent in central Arkansas, died Aug. 2 in Little Rock. She was 80.

 July

Bill and Peggy Weidman, well-known Fort Smith philanthropists, died in July within days of each other. Peggy Weidman died July 6 at the age of 77. Bill died July 10 at the age of 80. Bill Weidman, a co-founder of the coating and plastics company Co-Plas, was a pioneer in craft brewing in Arkansas, operating Weidman’s Old Fort Brewery and Old Fort Brewpub during the 1990s. Peggy Weidman, a nurse, was a co-founder of Phillips Cancer Support House.

The Rev. Londell Williams, a former mayor of Texarkana and the city’s longest-serving board member, died July 10. Williams began his service on the city board in 1977, leaving the board in 2014, a total of 37 years.

 August

David Butler of Magnolia, prosecuting attorney in Arkansas’ 13th judicial district, died Aug. 13 at the age of 62. He practiced law for more than 35 years in Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Frank Broyles, who was head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks football team from 1958-76 and athletic director of the University of Arkansas from 1973-2007, died Aug. 14 from complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 92. Broyles was the pre-eminent sports figure in Arkansas for 50 years, and as Razorback coach he led the team to a shared national championship in 1964. His record as head football coach was 144 victories, 58 losses and 5 ties. Leading the Razorbacks, he won or shared seven Southwest Conference titles and won two Cotton Bowl games. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1983. As athletic director, he helped move the Razorbacks from the Southwest Conference to the Southeastern Conference in 1991. Broyles also hired successful Razorback coaches like Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson, who led the Hogs’ basketball team to a national championship in 1994.

He also served as a color commentator for ABC Sports, and under his leadership as athletic director, the 19,200-seat Bud Walton Arena was built, opening in 1992. In his later years, Broyles was active in the Frank & Barbara Broyles Foundation, started in 2006 to help caregivers and family members of patients with dementia.

 October

Walter Harris Nunn, a political science professor and founder of Rose Publishing Co. of Little Rock, died Oct. 2. In addition to teaching at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Nunn directed the Arkansas International Center, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching international visitors about U.S. governance, business and culture, for over 30 years. Rose Publishing published books about Arkansas, including “Arkansas Odyssey,” considered by many to be the most complete recounting of Arkansas history.

Edwin Boyd Alderson Jr., an El Dorado lawyer and businessman, died Oct. 5 at the age of 77. He served as Union County municipal judge for 20 years and had once worked as a lawyer for Murphy Oil Corp. Madison Murphy, chairman of Murphy USA, honored Alderson in September for his work in the creation of the Murphy Arts District in El Dorado.

Gary Weir, who performed as Bozo the Clown on television and who also was an astute businessman, died Oct. 5 in North Little Rock. He was 75. He filled sales roles and was a radio and TV voice in Arkansas for several years before KATV Manager Bob Doubleday offered him a clown suit, and after his clowning days, Weir spent 18 years producing “The Oaklawn Report,” a horse-racing recap from Hot Springs. As Bozo, he became a marketing force, his grease-painted face peering out on everything from forks and spoons to coloring books, puzzles and punching bags. In Arkansas, his image helped sell Bozo Franks and milk from Coleman Dairy.

Charles Louis Cabe Jr. of Gurdon, a timber businessman and philanthropist, died Oct. 16. He was 73. He was the president of Cabe Land & Timber as well as the C. Louis & Mary C. Cabe Foundation. He formerly sat on the Horace C. Cabe Foundation Board.

Cabe was a past president and member of the Gurdon Chamber of Commerce and was named the Chamber Member of the Year in 2012.

David Keith Dunn of Forrest City, a former Arkansas legislator who served on President Donald Trump’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Election Integrity, died Oct. 16 at the age of 52. Dunn served in the Arkansas House as a Democrat and as executive director of the Forrest City Chamber of Commerce. After leaving the Legislature in 2011, he co-founded Capitol Partners of Little Rock, a lobbying firm.

Bob “Sody” Arnold, born Robert Clark Arnold, died Oct. 27 in Hot Springs. Arnold, who grew up in Arkadelphia, was a former state representative and was one of the longest serving members of the state House from Clark County. Arnold’s nickname, “Sody Pop,” resulted from his work at the family’s soft drink bottling company, the Arkadelphia Beverage Co.

Floyd Fulkerson Jr., a World War II fighter pilot and Little Rock real estate developer, died on Oct. 30 at the age of 96. Fulkerson, who came from an old Arkansas family, was known as “Wingman to the Aces” for his efforts to protect the lead fighter pilots. He was credited with the destruction of four enemy aircraft in aerial combat, plus five more on the ground while strafing enemy airfields. As a developer, Fulkerson helped establish the Pleasant Valley and Longlea neighborhoods.

 November

James Henry “Bebo” Penick III, a partner in the Eichenbaum Liles law firm, died Nov. 10 at 62. Penick, whose practice concentrated on business and commercial litigation, grew up in a family that had founded one of the first banks in Arkansas, Worthen Bank.

Before joining Eichenbaum Liles, Penick had served as vice president, general counsel and chief financial officer for a commercial real estate developer. He began his career as an associate with the Rose Law Firm in commercial litigation.

Greg Standridge of Russellville, a state senator and co-owner of Coffman Standridge Inc., a Russellville insurance agency, died Nov. 16 from cancer. He was 50. Standridge had served in the Senate since April 2015 after winning a special election to fill the seat of Michael Lamoureux, who resigned in November 2014 to become Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s chief of staff.

John Lewellen, a former state representative who also served as a Little Rock city director, died Nov. 25. He was 87. Lewellen represented District 34 in the Legislature from 1999 to 2005. He also served as a member of the Pulaski County Quorum Court.

Lewellen’s wife, Wilhelmina, who succeeded him in the Legislature, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the highlight of Lewellen’s legislative career was “helping to pass a $5 million appropriation to restore the Mosaic Templars building in Little Rock into a museum of the state’s African-American history.” Quantia Fletcher, the assistant director of the Mosaic Templars Cultural Center, told the newspaper: “We wouldn’t be here if it was not for him.”

G. Thomas Eisele, a longtime U.S. District judge in Little Rock, died Nov. 26 at the age of 94. Appointed by President Richard Nixon in 1970, Eisele served as a judge for 41 years, including as chief judge of the Eastern District for 16 years until taking senior status in 1991. Eisele, who retired in 2011, was hailed for his fairness, intellect and decency. He was one of the first jurists to question mandatory sentencing guidelines and made important rulings in the areas of civil rights, the environment, the treatment of the mentally ill and the death penalty.

 December

Charles J. Cella, the longtime president and chairman of the board of the Oaklawn Jockey Club in Hot Springs, died Dec. 6 of complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 81. Cella, who lived in St. Louis, took over Oaklawn from his father, John Cella, in 1968. John Cella had been given control of Oaklawn in 1940 after his father, Charles Cella, died at the age of 65. In addition to Oaklawn, Charles Cella was president of Southwestern Enterprises Inc. and Southern Real Estate & Financial Co. He also owned and raced notable thoroughbreds, including 1995 Breeders’ Cup Turf champion Northern Spur.

Under Cella’s leadership, Oaklawn introduced the Racing Festival of the South, full-card interstate simulcasting and Instant Racing. The park also weathered the rise of casino gambling in surrounding states, including Mississippi, and it led campaigns against multiple efforts to legalize casino gambling in Arkansas. At the same time, it put more resources into electronic games of skill at the park, which began in 2006.

Roy Reed, a Garland County native whose writings chronicled the civil rights movement for The New York Times and illuminated Arkansas history in well-crafted and often funny books about former Gov. Orval Faubus and the Arkansas Gazette, died Dec. 10 in Fayetteville.

Reed, who was 87, joined the Gazette in 1956, became a national correspondent for The Times in 1965 and in later years molded a younger generation of journalists through 16 years as a professor at the University of Arkansas. Reed was a frequent companion of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and he witnessed and described in vivid detail the “Bloody Sunday” police crackdown on more than 500 black marchers in Selma, Alabama, in 1965, which he later described as a turning point in the struggle for black rights. Reed was depicted by the actor John Lavelle in “Selma,” the 2014 movie by director Ava DuVernay.

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