Wilma Frances Ammons

WILMA FRANCES AMMONS of Little Rock passed away far more quietly than anyone expected at noon on July 20. Wilma had dementia for about the last five years of her life. For four of those years, she was a contender for Most Outrageous Nursing Home Resident. Her last months, however, were peaceful and filled with beautiful visions. She didn't even notice that she had end-stage lung cancer. Her family will be forever grateful for the tender and unfailing care she received from the staff of Arkansas Health Center in Benton, Ark. Wilma was born September 23, 1933. She was so proud that she had five children. She married Finis D. "Tex" Harris in March 1950, when she was just 16. Denise arrived in September 1951. About a year later, Wilma made the mistake of complaining about her young husband to her daddy and quickly found herself divorced. In August 1953, she wed James W. Felton, who was the father of Eddie, Danny, Paul, and Tanya. They were married for 28 years. In May 1990, she married Joe L. Ammons, whom she adored, prayed with, tormented, kept secrets with, nagged, and joked with until his death on March 15, 2015. Wilma was originally from Enid, Okla., the daughter of Edward F. and Velvia A. Chodrick Miller. She was the middle child of seven siblings, who scattered across the country in adulthood but tried to meet up at the parents' house at least once a year with 25 kids in tow. All of the siblings had their daddy's gift for storytelling. The five sisters were especially close friends. For several days of each visit, the sisters were inseparable, huddling to share a marathon of true-life tales. By day four or five, however, the diapers started to smell and nerves frayed; and the sisters' squabbles were as legendary as their yarns. Until Wilma entered the nursing home, she still enjoyed calling one sister or another in the middle of the night for a big laugh or a good shouting match. Wilma had much more creativity than money. In the 1960s, she produced meals for a family of seven on a budget of $20 per week. She had fabulous fashion sense, but she never, ever paid full price for a garment. She handcrafted Christmas gifts for every member of her family – including all 25 cousins – every year until her parents died. The only handicraft she never mastered was knitting. (No one knows why.) Once, she covered five large rainbow table centerpieces with thousands and thousands of sequins. Her children, whom she conscripted as slave labor for her projects, do not allow sequins in their houses to this day. She loved Jesus, vegetables, and flower gardens. She danced divinely. Her handwriting was elegant and microscopic. She demonstrated Avon and Home Interiors products, Sarah Coventry Jewelry, and various Cub Scout leaders' trainings like a TV star. She could roller skate like a pro well into her 50s. And she would (and did) go toe-to-toe with the Chairman of the Board of Education or the LRPD for her kids. Wilma was particularly proud of her height, claiming at "five-one-and-a half" to be the second-tallest sister. She subtracted so many years from her age and added so many to Denise's that they were the same age for several decades. However, she got caught saying she was "nearly 80" when she was barely 70 because, she said, people were more impressed by her looks if they thought she was older. If you were ever Wilma's friend, you were always Wilma's friend. She kept up with people from her childhood in Enid and her teen years in Las Vegas as long as they lived. Her Christmas card list included dear ones from every season of her life – other newlywed housewives from North Little Rock, members of a Hillcrest bowling league from her 20s, Broadmoor church and PTA friends from her 30s, her coworkers at Sears and the Little Rock Street Department during her 40s and 50s, and other residents of the West Little Rock condos where she and Joe retired. Nothing thrilled her more than bumping into an old friend, and she seldom left the house without encountering someone she could greet with her enormous smile and some excellent gossip. In addition to her parents and her sweetheart Joe, Wilma is now telling tall tales with siblings Wayne and Verdena Gallas, Zennon and Phyllis Miller, Dwaine and Mary Miller, Arley Woodford, and Glen and Rose Hensler. Left behind to make fun of Wilma's cooking and to miss her every single day are her sisters Irene Woodford and Joy and Ed Stark; her children and their spouses Becky Felton, Beth Felton, and Rick Stillman; beloved stepchildren Michael and Lesley Ammons and Nancy Malheiro; grandchildren Rachel, Codie, Dane, David, Dayla, Nicole, Christian, Victoria, Olivia, Bobby, Sean, Aric, Britney, Chris, Zachery, Jacob, Mike, Meredith, and Joe; 14 great-grandchildren; and cousins, nieces, and nephews innumerable. A graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday, August 7, 2019, at Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Lewy Body Dementia Association at https://www.lbda.org/donate. Online guest register www.SmithFamilyCares.com.