William "Bill" Lester Faught

William (Bill) Lester Faught was born the only child of Willie and Omega Mathis Faught in Little Rock, Arkansas, on January 19,1942. Willie and two other men opened the Little Rock Corps of Engineers. When Bill was 2 years old, his family moved to Plainview, Arkansas, where his dad was the project manager for Lake Nimrod Dam from 1944 until 1965.

Bill described Yell County as, “the best place in the world to grow up in.” He had fond memories of quail hunting and fishing with his father and playing with his pet deer named Bucky. He attended Plainview-Rover High School and graduated in 1959. While in high school he was a standout athlete. He starred on the basketball team and eventually earned a scholarship to play at Henderson State University. He also was one of only two athletes on the track team and he essentially ran in every running event at track meets. His other teammate participated in the field events.

Bill met Barbara Pugh of Rover during high school and later transferred to Arkansas Tech where Barbara was attending and playing basketball. While attending Arkansas Tech, Bill was enrolled in the ROTC program and upon graduation was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army. He would later be stationed in Korea from 1965 to 1966. Bill and Barbara would marry on March 1,1965. Barbara gave birth to her daughter Tammy later that year. Four years later, they were surprised in the delivery room when they had two babies instead of one, twin sons, Keith and Kevin.

Bill studied for his master’s degree in public administration at University of Arkansas in Fayetteville while raising his three children. He subsequently worked in city management in Fayetteville and Little Rock. He later became City Administrator at Bartlesville, Oklahoma, Ashland, Kentucky, and Fort Smith, Arkansas. Barbara would go on to teach business classes at Northside High School for many years.

Bill coached many of his sons’ basketball and baseball teams starting while they were very young. The passion for sports and specifically basketball never left Bill and Barbara and they passed on to their children and grandchildren. They were avid fans of watching their oldest granddaughter Whitney play organized basketball from an early age, traveling all over the country to watch her play.

After retiring from city management, he became a business owner purchasing Snelling Staffing in 1982. He later worked in Community Development at the City of Rogers. Upon his second retirement in 2005, he enjoyed spending time with good friends at Fianna Hills Country Club as well as pursuing his interest in aviation and ultimately built his own airplane.

He is preceded in death by his wife of fifty years, Barbara. He is survived by daughter, Tammy O’Dell (Phil) and granddaughters Whitney and Julianne; son Keith (Breanna) and grandson, Andrew; and son Kevin (Melanie) and grandsons Charlie, Brady and J.T.

Funeral service and burial will be held on July 8, 2026, at 11:00 am at Fort Smith National Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Edwards Funeral Home. Pallbearers are his sons and grandsons. Honorary pallbearer is his good friend, Jim Pryor.

Memorials can be made to Rover Baptist Church, P.O. Box 42, Rover, Arkansas 72860.