Willa "Bea" Bess (McClain) Ashcraft

Willa Bess McClain (Bea) Ashcraft died September 1, 2026, in Fort Smith. Bea was born on February 13, 1928, in Malvern, Arkansas, to Bessie Baker McClain and William Richard McClain. She grew up in Malvern and graduated from Malvern High School in 1945. She was a piano student of Miss Agee McCray.

Despite her lifelong hearing disability, Bea began playing piano in church when she was eleven years old at the Third Baptist Church, Malvern, and continued playing piano and organ throughout her life. She was pianist at Central Baptist in Pine Bluff and pianist/organist at Lee Memorial Baptist Church (later First Baptist White Hall) for 48 years.

After her marriage to Thomas Lee Ashcraft in 1948, they moved to Pine Bluff where both she and Tom worked at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. They and their children moved to White Hall in 1960 and lived there until 2008 when she and Tom moved to Fort Smith. While living in White Hall, Bea was active in the church, played piano and organ for many weddings and funerals, and served on the board of the White Hall History Museum.

Bea is preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Lee Ashcraft, and a grandson, Charles Baker Ashcraft. She is survived by her daughters, Ginger Terry and Dr. Cynthia Ashcraft, both of Fort Smith, and her son, Dr. Richard Henry Ashcraft of San Antonio, Texas, and by eight grandchildren and twelve great grandchildren. In her final years, Bea was cared for by her daughter Cynthia in her home.

Burial will be private in the U.S. National Cemetery in Fort Smith under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home.