Marion Hughes Dickson Moorhead

MARION HUGHES DICKSON MOORHEAD, 92, of Little Rock passed away June 9, 2012. She was born the second of three children to Frederick Lawrence Dickson Sr. and Gertrude Hughes Dickson on Jan. 15, 1920, in Memphis, Tenn. Marion graduated from Southwestern at Memphis, now Rhodes College, in 1941, and began her lifelong vocation as a teacher in the Memphis public schools. While living at home with her parents, her fiancé serving in the Philippines, Marion in typically generous fashion helped her parents put her younger sister, Gene, through college. In June 1944 she married her college sweetheart, William Martin Moorhead of Little Rock, who was preparing to attend law school on the GI bill. After a brief stint in Little Rock they moved to Stuttgart, where they raised two daughters and served their community in selfless fashion during their 47-year partnership. Marion was an elementary school teacher for more than 30 years. She played an historic role in the first years of desegregation in Arkansas, when she volunteered and was selected as one of two teachers to begin integration of the Stuttgart school system at Holman Elementary. Marion was a member of First Presbyterian Church of Stuttgart, where over the years she sang in the choir, taught Sunday school, and served as an elder and deacon. In addition to her parents and husband, Marion was preceded in death by her brother, Frederick Lawrence Dickson Jr. of Memphis; sister Gene Symes, of Webster Groves, Mo.; and eldest daughter, Jane Moorhead Larson of Knoxville, Tenn. Her family and friends will miss her gentle smile, ever-present ball cap, original humor, and her singing of songs from the 30's and 40's with seemingly total recall of verses. Survivors include daughter, Ellen Moorhead Fennell (Tom) of Little Rock; grand-children, Henry W. Murphy (Lauren Schiller) of Little Rock, Samuel L. Murphy of Philadelphia, Sarah Beth Larson of Memphis, and Anna Larson Henderson (Bill) of Knoxville; and great-grandchildren, Emma and Madeline Henderson and Nikolai Murphy-Schiller. Graveside services will be held 2 p.m. Friday, June 15, at Lone Tree Cemetery in Stuttgart; arrangements by Ruebel Funeral Home. The Reverend Tim Reeves will officiate. All are invited to a reception after the service in the Fellowship Hall of First Presbyterian Church. Online guest book at www.ruebelfuneralhome.com. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be made to Audubon Arkansas, 4500 Springer Blvd., Little Rock, Ark. 72206; to First Presbyterian Church, 120 W. Seventh Street, Stuttgart, Ark. 72160; or to the charity of the donor's choice.