Mattie Mae Bourquin

On the most beautiful of Sunday mornings, April 3, 2011, 70 year old Mattie Mae Foley Bourquin moved on and up to eternal life with God into the kingdom of Heaven that she had prepared for her entire life. She was born on May 19, 1940 in Lepanto, Arkansas to Leonard and Mabel Hawk Foley. She was one of seven brothers and sisters, the youngest daughter. She was referred to by her Daddy and siblings as "BABY". Raised in Walnut Ridge, she attended Egypt High School where she not only played basketball, softball and was a cheerleader, but was also titled FFA Sweetheart. At an early age, she excelled in music and singing became one of her lifelong pleasures. She was a natural born entertainer with the most beautiful brown eyes and captivating smile that matched perfectly with her exquisite voice. Mattie worked many jobs in her lifetime, but her favorite and longest lasting was that as a cardiology assistant for both Baptist Health and St. Vincent Infirmary. She was a lifelong member of the Assembly of God family at the River of Life Church. She first married in 1961 to John Bernard Sanchez to whom she was married and divorced from twice. That marriage brought her only children, twins John Bee Sanchez (Johnny) and Melinda Kay Sanchez (Mendy). She remained a single mother for 20 years and worked hard to raise her twins. She remarried on July 17, 1993 to an Angel that God sent to her and her family by the name of Charles "Chuck" Bourquin, who brought her the most happiness she had ever known in her adult life. Along with Chuck came three grown stepchildren, Debbie, Doug and Cheryl who eventually grew her extended family with children and grandchildren of their own. Chuck was Mattie's constant, her rock, through good times and bad. She was a fighter! Shortly after marrying Mr. Bourquin, she was diagnosed with breast cancer that she fought and won, but that would be the first of many medical battles she would overcome throughout the next 18 years. Through it all, she remained strong in her belief in God and lived her life the best she could do to serve the Lord. Her greatest joys in life came from her grandchildren, Johnathon Jordan Sanchez and Kayli Nicolette Sanchez. To them, she will live on in their hearts as Mamaw. Preceded in death by her parents, sister, Virginia Davis and brothers, Paul and J.R.Foley. She is survived by her husband, Charles "Chuck" Bourquin; children, Melinda Sanchez and Johnny Bee Sanchez, both of Bryant; sisters, Levida French of Little Rock and Naomi Lee Dowdy of Mississippi; brother, Charles Foley of Jonesboro; and her grandchildren, nieces and nephews. She was loved by many, but her childhood best friends throughout life were Geneva, Rosalee, Latisha, Jeanette and Patsy, as well as colleagues and closest friends who held her hand right to the very end, Mary McElhaney and Debbie Barentine Cagle. She can now finally rest in peace! We love you! You are already and will forever be missed. We shall meet again one day…til then, Goodbye! Visitation will be Thursday, April 7 from 6-8 p.m. at Little Rock Funeral Home, 8801 Knoedl Ct. (NW corner I-630 and Barrow Rd.). Services will be Friday, April 8 at 2 p.m. at River of Life Assembly of God, 9800 Nash Lane, Mabelvale, officiated by Bro. Tony Minick, followed by interment at Pinecrest Memorial Park in Alexander. Memorials may be made to the American Lung Association, American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Association. Arrangements by Little Rock Funeral Home, (501) 224-2200. Mattie's online guestbook may be signed at www.littlerockfuneralhome.com.