North Little Rock businessman and civic leader E.A. Ostedgaard died Saturday, May 12. He was 86.
Ostedgaard was a former president of the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and a founding director of the Foundation Fund at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock.
Ostedgaard, who had to go to work at 14 after his father’s death, is remembered for helping people along the way, just as others helped him with jobs, advice and help during his life.
He graduated from the University of Iowa at 20 and enjoyed a lengthy career with Aetna Life Insurance Co., where his innovations broadened the estate planning market.
After he left Aetna in 1982, Ostedgaard and his son formed Financial Professionals Inc. and continued doing estate, financial and retirement planning, his areas of specialty.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Janice McNeill Ostedgaard; a son, Gregory and his wife, Cindy, of Greenbrier; a daughter, Cheryl Ann Widder and her husband, David, of Blacksburg, Va.; four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
The family will receive friends Wednesday at Lakewood United Methodist Church in North Little Rock from 12-1 p.m. Funeral services are scheduled to follow at 1 p.m. at the church.
Burial will be in Rest Hills Memorial Park in Sherwood. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Lakewood United Methodist Church.
Sign up for Daily E-news
![A Standard Lithium employee at its demonstration plant in El Dorado. [Madison Ogle] ]](https://arkansasbusiness.wppcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2023.7.20_Standard_Lithium-20_opt-150x150.jpg)
