Elza Clifton Bond

Elza Clifton Bond, Jr., 86, died on Monday, February 17, 2014. Known by all as Judge Bond, he was licensed to practice law by the Arkansas Supreme Court in 1953, and thereafter was admitted to the Bar of the United States Supreme Court as well as the other Federal and State Courts of Arkansas. He opened and operated a private law practice in Monticello for over a half century. He was elected Judge of the Monticello Municipal Court in 1960 and presided over that Court for 26 years until his retirement in 1986. He also was elected to the Monticello City Council in 1997 and served as an Alderman of the City for 13 years ending in 2010. Judge Bond was also active in the Monticello Rotary Club which he joined in 1959. He had perfect attendance to the weekly meetings for over 50 years and was a past President of the Club. He was also a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary International Foundation. His wife Marjorie Mae Bond was inducted as the first female member of the Monticello Rotary Club. The annual college scholarships given by Monticello Rotary to high school graduates of Monticello High School and Drew Central Schools, and to a student at the University of Arkansas at Monticello, are given as the Marjorie Mae and Clifton Bond Monticello Rotary Scholarship. Judge Bond also loved his Lord and Church. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Monticello for more than 57 years and there served as a Deacon for more than 35 years and taught Sunday School for many, many years. Judge Bond was born Elza Clifton Bond, Jr., on September 23, 1927, as the only son of Elza Clifton Bond, Sr., and Ethel Aura (Snow) Bond. He was preceded in death by his wife of over 62 years, Marjorie Mae (Ingram) Bond on April 10, 2011. He is survived by a host of cousins including Frank Anderson Gibson Jr., Rev. Thomas Eugene "Blue" Gibson, William "Billy" Gibson, Martha Ann Gibson Spoonamore, Charlotte Marcum, Vickie Snow Gottsjoner, Robert Walter Snow, Jr., Luellen Holmes, and many others. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, February 20, 2014, at Stephenson-Dearman Funeral Home in Monticello with burial at the Bond Cemetery in Wilmar. Active Pallbearers are W.J. McKeiver, Royce Dickerson, Ralph Hunter, Joe Rogers, Lee Busby, Tim Chase, Robert Rosegrant, and Tom Chapman, and Honorary Pallbearers will be the Deacons of the First Baptist Church of Monticello. Visitation will be during the hour preceding the funeral services at the Stephenson-Dearman Funeral Home. The family requests that in lieu of flowers that memorials be made to the First Baptist Church of Monticello, 413 North Main, Monticello, AR 71655 or the Monticello Rotary Club. Online guestbook www.stephensondearman.com.