Sharon Alane "Laney" Brackman

Sharon Alane "Laney" Brackman, 38, of Little Rock died on February 21, 2013, after a long, fiercely fought battle with melanoma. Laney was born on March 15, 1974, in Shreveport, La. She was the Director of Tobacco Projects at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas and the University of South Carolina Arnold School Of Public Health.

 She is survived by her partner of 18 years, Jodie Dailey of Little Rock; parents, Glenn Sr. and Sara of Bradley; sister and brother-in-law, Cathy and Mike May, of Bradley; brother, Glenn Brackman Jr. of Plain Dealing, La.; nephew, Mike May Jr. of Texarkana; nieces, Cary Beth May and Emma Cate May of Bradley and Abby Dailey of Little Rock; grandparents, Tom and Marian Brackman of Bradley; mother and father-in-law, Katherine and Donald Dailey of Malvern, Ark.; sisters-in-law, Katie Dailey and Amy Frank of Little Rock; and brother and sister-in-law, Don and Gina Dailey of Little Rock. She is also survived by a large extended family and lots of wonderful friends. She was preceded in death by the late Dr. Scott and Mary Alice Coyle. Laney loved the Razorbacks and the Red Sox, a warm beach and a cold beer. A self-taught guitar hero, she hosted late-night front-porch sing-alongs that delighted her small band of devoted fans (if not, perhaps, her neighbors). She canoed, she camped, she cooked vegetarian meatloaf.

 She cared. With razor wit and a booming belly laugh, Laney brought joy to the friends and family she cherished so deeply. With boundless compassion, she opened her kind heart to people battling AIDS, to abandoned animals - to anyone who needed the comfort she gave so freely. And with grace, dignity and unfailing humour, Laney faced cancer the way she lived her too-short life - lifting everyone who knew and loved her.

 Memorial services will take place at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 23, at Quapaw Quarter Methodist Church in Little Rock and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, February 24, at Cottage Grove Memorial Presbyterian Church in Plain Dealing. A reception will follow both services. Memorials may be made to Palmetto Aids Life Support Services at www.palss.org or P.O. Box 4773, Columbia, S.C. 29240, or to the Cottage Grove Memorial Presbyterian Church Cemetery Fund, c/o Renee Boggs, 250 Thornton, Plain Dealing, La. 71064. Please visit www.cremationsofarkansas.com to sign the online guest register.