Walter Clark Jennings

WALTER CLARK JENNINGS, 95, of Little Rock, Ark., died peacefully and surrounded by family on Dec. 2, 2016, after a brief illness. He will be long loved and remembered for his kindness, his ready laugh, and his relentless good cheer; his devotion to his late wife, Medora, and his family and church; his strength of character; and his ability to make everyone he met feel special. He was born in West Helena, Ark., on Aug. 22, 1921, which was also his mother's birthday, the middle of three sons of Earp Franklin Jennings, who worked for the Chicago Mill and Lumber Company, and Irma Alston, formerly of Clarksdale, Miss. The family moved to Little Rock in 1925 when his father founded Jennings Motors, a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership that Walter would later help his father run. He was a proud product of Little Rock's public schools, including Pulaski Heights Junior High and Little Rock High School (now Central High), graduating in 1939, where he was active in the photography club and was voted by his classmates as "most serious." He entered the U.S. Army Air Forces in 1942, served in an ordinance company, entered the cadet program, trained at Pine Bluff's Grider Field, and flew C-47s, carrying paratroopers-in-training in Laredo and Waco, Texas. While at Laredo, he played second base for the base's championship fast-pitch softball team. He was honorably discharged in 1946 as a 2nd Lieutenant. Upon his return home, he entered into a partnership in Jennings Motors with his father at the business's new location at 3rd and Gaines streets. In 23 years there, he held many leadership positions in the Arkansas Automobile Dealers Association, serving as director, treasurer, regional vice-president, and finally as president in 1963. In 1966 he was voted Arkansas Automobile Man of the Year. He left the auto business in 1969 to embark on a new career in banking, working from 1969 to 1989 at First National and later First Commercial, rising from trust officer to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of First Commercial Trust. Upon retirement, he was given the title of Chairman Emeritus. During his banking career, he taught during summers in Dallas at the Southwestern Graduate School of Banking, where he earned the affectionate title "Mother Jen" for his warm mentorship. A lifelong athlete, he excelled in many sports as a young man, in particular as a swimmer for the Little Rock Boys Club and YMCA teams. He was an avid water skier, a city champion in doubles handball, won the Country Club of Little Rock tennis championship in 1950, and was runner up for the city tennis title in 1951. He went on to win multiple CCLR senior tennis trophies over the years. After years of not competing in swimming but continuing to lap swim during lunch or after work at the YMCA, in 1972, at age 50, he entered a masters meet, the Arkansas Invitational Swimming Championships at the Little Rock Racquet Club, his first competition in decades. The first day, he set a national record in the 100-yard backstroke for ages 50-54. The next day, he set another national record for his age group in the 200-yard backstroke. He went on to maintain top 10 national rankings for two years. In April of 2016, he was inducted in the Arkansas Swimming Hall of Fame. Into his nineties, he continued to keep in shape by working out twice a week, training with Sean Ross at Ross Strength and Speed. He was a lifelong member of Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Little Rock, beginning as an altar boy and eventually serving three different terms on the vestry. He remained active in the civic life of Little Rock, volunteering and serving on boards with CARTI, Easter Seals, AETN, and St. Francis House. Along with his wife, he admired, befriended, and supported those politicians - the late Senator Dale Bumpers in particular - who upheld values of decency, compromise, and defending the vulnerable. He and Medora were also frequent attendees during the season at Oaklawn Park. Most of all, he brought joy to everyone who crossed his path, from the workers at Kroger and neighbors at Rivercliff to the servers at Bossa Nova, Trio's, and Franke's and strangers everywhere, greeting the men with a complicated handshake routine and giving women a courtly kiss on the hand. Kids were inevitably called "rooster" and his farewells included a series of catchphrases, including "I'll write you when I get work" and "You're the best in the West." No one left an encounter with him without a smile. He loved all living creatures, with a particular fondness for cats, though he was known to go out of his way to help even a tarantula cross a road safely. He is survived by his son, Earp Franklin "Jay" Jennings III and Abby Olivier, of Little Rock; his daughter Elizabeth Ann Jennings McGee, her husband Sam, and two granddaughters, Grace and Emma, all of Richardson, Texas; two nephews, Alston Jennings Jr. (Margaret) and Gene Jennings (Nancy), of Little Rock; and a niece, Ann Jennings Shackelford (Craig), of Montrose, Ark. He is predeceased by his wife, Medora Sifford Jennings; his son Walter Clark Jennings Jr.; and his brothers Alston Jennings and Earp Franklin Jennings Jr. The family would also like to thank his extraordinary caregivers, whose love and companionship provided him with so much happiness during his later years at Rivercliff: Karen Cardenas, Kelly Cardenas, Mary Eason, and Sandra Johnson. A memorial service in celebration of his life will be held on Friday, Dec. 9 at 10:30 a.m. at Christ Episcopal Church at 5th and Scott streets in downtown Little Rock. The family requests that memorial donations in his honor be made to Christ Episcopal Church or the Humane Society of Pulaski County. Arrangements are by Ruebel Funeral Home, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com.