Kathelene Stephens Blythe

Kathelene Stephens Blythe of Gurdon entered Paradise on March 13, 2015 to be with her Lord and was reunited with her family and friends who had preceded her. She was born on May 31, 1912 and led a Charmed Life spanning almost 103 years. Her parents were lifelong Christians, and Kathelene also accepted Christ at an early age. She was blessed with good health, good looks, intelligence, a calm and cheerful disposition, a devoted husband of 55 years, and three loving children. Kathelene and her five siblings grew up on a small farm near Blevins. Despite their modest income during the Great Depression, her parents were determined to send their twin daughters to Arkansas State Teachers College (now the University of Central Arkansas) in Conway and did so. Kathelene and her sister, Ethelene, graduated with B.S.E. degrees in the Class of 1935 and were members of Sigma Beta Lambda Sorority. After college, she taught science and home economics at Centervile High School near Greenbrier for two years and she spent the next two years working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Texarkana. Kathelene was married to Hermon Blythe from 1937 until his death in 1992; they lived in Texarkana, Maryland, New York City, Jacksonville, Cotter, and Newport before settling in Gurdon in 1953. She was a loyal member of First United Methodist Church in Gurdon since moving there, and that Church has lost its senior member. From 1959 until her retirement in 1974, she was employed as a caseworker with the Arkansas Department of Public Welfare. During retirement, she traveled with her husband all over the United States and in Australia, Canada, Canary Islands, Fiji, Holland, Israel, Jamaica, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Russia, Spain and Tahiti. Kathelene was preceded in death by her husband and her five siblings. She is survived by sons, Michael Blythe of Hot Springs and Stephen Blythe of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; a daughter, Sharon Face of Warner, N.H.; five grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. The funeral will be held at ­2 p.m. on Tuesday, March 17 in the First United Methodist Church of Gurdon with burial to follow at Marlbrook Cemetery near Blevins. Visitation will be from 12 noon until 2 p.m. in the Church. Condolences may be sent to Pharr Funeral Home in Gurdon or posted online at http://www.pharrfuneralhomes.com/.