Madelyn Rice Ewbank

Madelyn Rice Ewbank, 98, of Hot Springs, passed away on Monday, July 18, 2022. Madelyn was born on September 12, 1923, in Willow, Dallas County, Arkansas, the third child of Crawford and Ethel Heard Rice. The Rice family later moved to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, in hopes their children would have a better chance at a college education in a town with two institutions of higher education. After graduating from Arkadelphia High School, Madelyn enrolled in Ouachita Baptist University and graduated with a BA in history. She later earned a masters from Henderson.

Madelyn held several jobs around Arkansas before landing a job as a

steno with the FBI in Little Rock where she caught the eye of Gene

Ewbank, an Illinois born and raised officer in the Army Counterintelligence

Corps. The two were married at Calvary Baptist Church Little Rock in the

spring of 1951. Their only child, Donna Lynn Ewbank, was a premature yet welcomed addition to the family.

After living as a military family in Little Rock, Detroit, Akron, and

Kaiserslautern, Germany, Gene retired from the military in 1958. The Little

Rock school situation was still unsettled from the 1957 Little Rock Central

High School Crisis, so the family temporarily rented an apartment at the

Cleveland Arms on Central Avenue across from Oaklawn Park in Hot

Springs where Lynn began first grade at Oaklawn Elementary. Lynn had a

habit of volunteering her parents for every activity that came along at the

school. Madelyn was there so frequently that when a teaching job at the

school opened up, she was solicited for the position and accepted it. The

family soon decided Hot Springs was home and built a permanent

residence.

Madelyn taught at Oaklawn, Jones, and Langston Elementary Schools,

and was in on the ground floor of the gifted and talented program. While

she only had one child, she poured her life into the lives of many other

children through teaching. She retired in 1988.

A lifelong Baptist, Madelyn spent most of her days in Second Baptist

Church where her great Uncle Will Hinsley had served as an instrumental

early pastor. In later years, she was a member of Crossgate and Hot

Springs Baptist. Following retirement Madelyn volunteered at Mid American Science Museum. She was a member of the Garland County Retired Teachers Association and the Forum Club.

Madelyn was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Gene, her

siblings Irene Rice Pearce and Thomas Delton Rice and their mates

Eugene Pearce and Helen Rice, in-laws Robert and Ruth Armstrong

Ewbank, and nieces Lisa Pearce Arey and Mary Ewbank Choate and

nephews Gene and Nick Pearce. Madelyn is survived by her daughter,

Donna Lynn and nephew Jim Ewbank (Cathy) of Clearwater, FL, and

nieces Raye Pearce (Morrilton) and Sharon Rice Ward (Lee) of White Hall.

Madelyn, whose motto was “be happy,” was a faithful companion to her

husband and daughter through lengthy illnesses and injuries. She loved to

travel. While in Germany the family visited the 1958 Worlds Fair at

Brussels, Holland, and France. After Gene’s death she went on several

cruises including a Scandanivia Capitols cruise for her 80th birthday with

daughter Lynn. She also visited New York and California several times.

Memorials are requested to be made to Madelyn’s beloved residence

since 2015: Country Club Village, 1925 Malvern Street, Hot Springs, AR

71901 or Hot Springs Baptist Church, 144 Weston Road, Hot Springs, AR 71913.

A service will be held at Gross Funeral Home on Monday July 25, 2022 at 10:00 am with a burial at Memorial Gardens following.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.grossfuneralhome.com for the Ewbank family.