Bess P. Brown

Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Edwards Funeral Home Chapel with burial at the U.S. National Cemetery in Fort Smith. Visitation will be Monday from 5-7 p.m. at Edwards Funeral Home.

Bess graduated from Branch High School on May 11, 1944 and was Salutatorian of her graduating class. She studied Home Economics at College of the Ozarks in Clarksville.

She moved to Fort Smith in August 1946 and accepted a job at Camp Chaffee. At that time, she joined First Baptist Church of Fort Smith, where she remained a life-long member.

She was office manager and bookkeeper for Electric Motor Center, retiring in 1989. In addition, Bess had a passion for cooking and baking, pies being her specialty.

Bess was preceded in death by her husband, Sam Rodger Brown; brother R. W. “Dub” Perkins; brother, Cy Perkins; and her parents, Roscoe and Maye Perkins.

She is survived by her daughter, Sonna Brown Reynolds and her husband, Ronnie Reynolds of Foley, Alabama; Kathy Fortner and Lea Muck, both of Fort Smith, and Rhea Lowder, of Charleston, South Carolina; and brother, Mike Perkins of Corpus Christi, Texas; 3 nephews, 4 nieces, and several great nephews and nieces.

Memorial donations may be made to the American Lung Association, 217 W. 2nd St. #105, Little Rock, AR 72201.

Online condolences may be sent to www.edwardsfuneralhome.com