Faye Belle Ethridge Kelso

Faye Belle Ethridge Kelso, 94, of Greenbrier, passed away Thursday, April 19, 2012. Born in Wooster, Ark., on Feb. 10, 1918, she was a daughter to the late Thomas Richard and Fannie Belle (Hickman) Ethridge. Faye Belle spent eight years teaching on a Navajo Indian reservation in the Southwest. Growing up, she was always drawn toward hard work. She grew up on a 640 acre farm near Ethridge Hill. She had three brothers and two sisters. The family raised peaches, grapes and apples. Faye Belle chose to work outside with her brothers on the farm, helping pick fruit and spread pesticide. For money, they sold peaches for 50 cents a bushel. She attended a few local schools before transferring to Greenbrier High School in the 10th grade. There she met her future husband Chester. She graduated from Arkansas State Teachers College and worked as a teacher in various local schools. She married in May 1947. The couple had a son and a daughter, Chester's job took him from Biloxi, Miss. to Wichita Falls, Texas and finally to Many Farms, Ariz. She said they chose to move to the 16-million-acre reservation, the largest in the U.S., because they "decided it would be good to go and learn about another culture." They were often invited to local ceremonies, including pow-wows and funerals. Once they went to a blessing ceremony for her husband's friend a World War II codetalker, when the man moved into his new home. Faye Belle said "The best part of it all was learning that everybody didn't live like you, in an Anglo-Community in Arkansas," She was also preceded in death by her husband of 34 years, Chester James Kelso; two sisters, Vivian Davenport and Eileen Brannon and three brothers Ralph, Frank and Gordon Ethridge. Faye Belle is survived by her daughter Nancy Kelso Lewers and husband Larry of Jacksonville; son, William Kelso of Rose Bud; five granddaughters, Elizabeth White, Emily Martinez, Karea Kennemer, Megan Brown and Amber Kelso; one great-grandson, Mitchel Kelso Brown and numerous extended family members and friends. Services will be held at 3 p.m., on Tuesday, April 24, 2012, at Roller McNutt Funeral home in Greenbrier, with interment to follow at East Shady Grove Cemetery in Greenbrier. Visitation will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, April 23, at the funeral home. Online guest book: www.rollerfuneralhomes.com.