Lester Charles Hockaday

Lester Charles Hockaday, of Jacksonville, Arkansas passed away peacefully on July 19, 2025. Born, September 20, 1949, in South Bend, Indiana to Ruby (Williams) Hockaday, and James Hockaday, and a lifelong University of Notre Dame fan.

A Vietnam War Veteran, Lester (Hock) served in the United States Air Force, joining in 1970 and retiring as a MSgt. in 1990. During his active-duty years, he served throughout Southeast Asia, Turkey, and later, in Colombia, and Panama as part of peacekeeping missions. He often shared stories of his time serving abroad, rarely letting the conversations pause. Although a talker Hock also had a beautiful singing voice, and fancied himself "James Brown 2.0".

After his military retirement, Hock moved his family to Jacksonville, Arkansas to be closer to his wife’s family. In 1992, he joined the Jacksonville Police Department as a patrolman, later becoming a School Resource Officer. Hock made history in Jacksonville, as he was the first to serve as a Police Officer with both of his sons, Jamal, and Julius. He retired from the force in 2010, as a Corporal.

Hock was a Shriner, and proud member of the Masonic fraternity and a recipient of the prestigious 33rd Degree in the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. He was a member of Friendship Lodge #4 of Little Rock.

Pre-deceased by his parents, Ruby & James Hockaday, Hock is survived by his loving wife of 53 years, Veronica (Ronnie), his sons Jamal (Marti) of Sherwood, AR, Julius of Fredrick, MD, and daughter Vonetta (Sean) of Jacksonville, AR. Grandchildren, Darius Hockaday (Zain) of Rockville, MD, Jocelyn Hockaday of Philadelphia, PA, and Gabriel Hockaday, of Sherwood, AR. Brothers, Mark (Monique), Phillip (Patricia), and Michael Hockaday; sisters, Shelly Hockaday and Sherry Caldwell (Malcom) all of South Bend, IN, along with a host of nieces, nephews, in-laws, cousins, and friends.

A lifelong practicing Catholic, a funeral Mass will be held at St. Augustine Catholic Church in North Little Rock, on Friday, July 25th, at 12:30 PM. The Rosary will be Thursday, July 24th at 5:00pm - 5:30pm, following the wake from 5:30pm - 8:00pm at the funeral home. Arrangements are by Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home and Rest Hills Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to one of the following of your choosing:

Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

The DAV

The Jacksonville Fraternal Order of Police

St. Augustine Catholic Church, NLR

Masonic Friendship Lodge #4 of Little Rock

Shriner’s Hospital for Children

The Hockaday family would like to thank the staff of Cottage 5 of the Arkansas State Veteran’s Hospital and the entire staff on 6E of the John L. McClellan Memorial Hospital for the exceptional, and compassionate care they provided.

Everyday is a HOCKADAY!