Jonesboro (AR) High School
Class of 1964
Remembers
Rita Jean Arnold
(June 4, 1946 – October, 2014)
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Rita Arnold was the only sister to Maxine
Arnold Riefer and the youngest child born to William Adam (Bill) Arnold and
Audrey May DUTY Arnold. She was, also, the granddaughter of her paternal
grandparents, Charles David Arnold and Amanda Ullman HUDLOW Arnold. Her
maternal grandparents were Ernest Samuel Duty and Hattie SIMMONS Duty. Rita
was one of nine children, five of whom lived to adulthood. In addition to
Rita and Maxine, there were Bill, Charles, and Ricky. Rita was the last
surviving sibling, having been preceded in death by her parents,
grandparents, her sister and brothers. Rita was living in Palm Bay, Florida at the
time of her death which followed several years of health challenges. She had
moved there a few years earlier, obtaining her dream of living near the
ocean. Rita was born and had grown up in Jonesboro, Arkansas where she
attended Jonesboro High School. During some of her teen years, she lived with
her sister, Maxine (Joseph) Riefer in Atlanta, Georgia. Rita spent most of her career working in the
insurance industry and retired from AFLAC. She was a very hard worker and
achieved recognition from her colleagues and clients for excellent customer
service. She worked tirelessly on family genealogy, which led to her
involvement and support of the Find-a-Grave community for over 14 years. Rita
also loved attending family reunions and tried to make the annual ÒDuty
Family ReunionÓ held in Dexter, Missouri as often as her health allowed. She was married for many years to William
Harold Granger. She had two beautiful and very talented daughters, Jan
Granger Shempert of Shreveport, Louisiana and Andrea (Thomas) Higgs of Palm
Coast, Florida. Rita was so very proud of her all her
grandchildren, Heather (Kenneth) Rash, Devon Davis-Mossman, William Ryan
Shempert, Matthew Schuyler (Sky) Shempert, Kami Allums, Sloan Cambron,
Matilda Higgs, and Zebediah Higgs. She was blessed to have wonderful great-grandchildren:
Tommy, Auston, Audrianna, Tristan, Montana, Dylan, Liberty, Jacob, Jayson,
Nicholas, Ethan, and Destin. In addition, she is survived by a host of
extended family and friends. RitaÕs final wishes were to be cremated and
buried at her fatherÕs feet; a hard working man she loved and missed dearly. Family links: Parents: William Adam Arnold (1907 - 1964) Audrey May Duty Arnold-Rhodes (1911 - 1997) Siblings: Nadine May Arnold (1928 - 1928)* Fadine Fay Arnold (1928 - 1928)* William Eugene Arnold (1929 - 1977)* Maxine May Arnold Riefer (1932 - 2010)* Patsy Ann Arnold (1936 - 1936)* Patrick Sylvester Arnold (1936 - 1936)* Charles Robert Arnold (1938 - 1999)* Rita
Jean Arnold (1946 - 2014) Rickey James Arnold (1946 - 2012)* *Calculated relationship |
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Burial: Jonesboro Craighead County Arkansas, USA |
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