Nancy Joyce Mayner

Nancy Joyce Oliver Mayner, 75 of Fort Smith, AR died November 5, 2011 in her home after a long, long illness. She was born December 7, 1935 in Bentonville, AR. She was the daughter of Ethell Willson and William Hearn Oliver. She was a graduate of Ozark High School and graduated with honors from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville in 1957 with a degree in Elementary Education. She taught school for over thirty-two years. In 1978 she obtained a Master’s Degree in Media and was one of the first Media Specialists in the elementary schools in the Fort Smith District. She taught in the Fort Smith Public School system for almost twenty-five years. Before she completed college she taught in the Ozark School District. In 1981 she obtained local and national recognition as a first place winner in the Joint Council on Economic Education National Competition sponsored by the International Paper Company foundation Awards Program. She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, Kappa Kappa Iota, Phi Delta Kappa, and Delta Kappa Gamma sororities. She was also a member of the National Education Association, Arkansas Education Association, Fort Smith Classroom Teachers Association and a former board member of the Fort Smith Teachers Federal Credit Union. She was a member of Belle Point Quilters, a quilt collector and for many years sewed with Mrs. Flora Mae Doville, making clothes, wall hangings and other fabric offerings. She was an accomplished pianist and was the church pianist for the First Baptist Church, Ozark while a student in high school. She was a long time member of the First Baptist Church of Fort Smith, a member of Tom Gray’s Koinonia Sunday School Class and served in many capacities in the church through the years. She taught in the Church’s kindergarten program for a couple of years before the public schools assumed the kindergarten program and the church discontinued its program.

She is survived by her husband John, of 53 years; three daughters, Martha Lawson and husband Mark of Syracuse, New York, Melissa Mayner of Waxahachie, Texas and Melanie Mayner of Bentonville, AR; two nephews, James O. Harp and Jeffrey Harp of Norman, Oklahoma; and three grandsons, Aaron, Alex, and Nathaniel Lawson. She was preceded in death by her mother and father and her only sister Zoe Ann Oliver Harp.

Funeral service will be Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 11:00 am in the Edwards Funeral Home Chapel and burial will be at 2:00 PM in the Highland Cemetery in Ozark, Arkansas all under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home.

Pallbearers will be Aaron Lawson, Alex Lawson, James O. Harp, Jeffrey Harp, Al White, and Leon Bartlett.

The family will greet friends at Edwards Funeral Home on Tuesday evening from 5-7 PM

Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of Western Arkansas 2408 South 51st Court Fort Smith, AR 72903 or Peachtree Hospice 2910 Jenny Lind Fort Smith, AR 72901