Elvia Mae Bridges

Elvia Mae Bridges, 87, of North Little Rock. "What a beautiful day the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad." These are the words that we were awakened to every day growing up in the Bridges household. It did not matter if it was storming, raining or snowing that day. "What a beautiful day the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad." On February 14, 2015, our family found no truer words have ever been spoken as the Lord called our mother, Elvia Mae Bridges, to join Him in heaven. It was only fitting the first love of her life called for her on Valentine's Day. Elvia Bridges was born on May 10, 1927 to Ivan and Gladys McCrea of Clarendon, Ark. She was one of six girls born and raised on an 80 acre farm in the rural community of Roe, located outside of Clarendon. Elvia learned the value of hard work at an early age. She and her sisters worked the fields as young girls and at the age of 17, she had her first real paying job as a waitress in Moore's Cafe, Clarendon. A short time later she moved to Washington, D.C. and found herself in the unique position of being a small town girl from Clarendon, working as a secretary at the Pentagon. She later met and married Earl Bridges, whom she loved with all of her heart and began raising their family in North Little Rock. Elvia worked as a secretary at Reynolds Metal in Bauxite, later as a secretary for Pike Avenue Baptist Church in NLR, then for HUD, OSHA and the VA in Little Rock. Elvia loved to fish and even when the fish weren't biting. She would sit on the bank of a lake or pond for hours on end. If you went fishing with Mom, she had one simple rule: "If it's big enough to bite, it's big enough to keep." We surely hope the fish are bigger in heaven than what she caught here on earth. Elvia will always be remembered as a loving and faithful wife, a great mother and an affectionate grandmother whose love for God and for her family was a gift she shared with all those who knew her. Elvia Bridges is preceded in death by her parents and her husband Earl; four sisters: Lucille Park and Shirley Pupsta of Clarendon, Genevieve Jackson of Benton and Effie Reinagel of Memphis, Tenn. She is survived by her children, Bill (Romosha) Bridges of Hot Springs, Donnie (Suzette) Bridges of Cabot and Rosemary (Roland) Anderson of Maumelle; five grandchildren, Tuesdai Bridges of Marshall, Mo., Brooke (Jonathan) Bricker, Hunter (Katie) Bridges, Chase (Amanda) Bridges all of Little Rock, Forestt Bridges of Hot Springs, five great grandchildren and her sister, Elizabeth Victory of Butler, Mo. Visitation will be from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 18, 2015 at the North Little Rock Funeral Home. Graveside service will be at the Bayou Meto Cemetery in Jacksonville at 2 p.m. on Thursday, February 19, 2015. We express our gratitude to the staff at Elmcroft of Maumelle, who gave such loving care to our mother as she fought Alzheimer's. We are forever thankful for their care, love, and patience as the disease slowly advanced. Our family would also like to thank Gentiva Hospice for their care, their advice and their response whenever they were needed to help our family cope with Mom's advanced stages of Alzheimer's. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Gentiva Hospice, 1004 Van Ronkle, Ste 1, Conway, Ark. 72034, Attn: Stephanie Johnson. Online obituary and guest registry at www.SmithFamilyCares.com.