Phoebe Lou Curry Spharler

Phoebe Lou Curry Spharler's magnificent earthly journey ended peacefully with members of her family and Mommy Cat beside her at home on June 9, 2019. Born June 28, 1936 to Pinky and Edna Fitzer Curry, Phoebe was a lifelong resident of Pine Bluff, where she served her family and community in many ways. A tireless community volunteer through her membership in the Junior League, Lakeside United Methodist Church and the Methontes Club, she was particularly proud of her involvement in political campaigns and for being an outspoken voice for social justice, equality and progressive ideas that often were ahead of her time. However, the role she performed best was first that of daughter, then sister, later wife, mother, aunt, grandmother and great-grandmother. Phoebe also was a successful business owner, court reporter, homebuilder, interior decorator, gracious entertainer, adventurous traveler, masterful "story" teller and passionate devotee of the arts, especially opera. To all of this, add her ever present grace, timeless beauty, kindness, determination, and ability to overcome any obstacle in her path and a true picture of Phoebe emerges. Her smile and gentle acts reflected all that is good in the world. "You have no idea what the smallest word, the tiniest generosity, can cause to be set in motion…Mend the part of the world that is within your reach"—borrowed words, but ones she might have said herself, because that is what she stood for and did every day, after losing her mother at 7, her father shortly left thereafter for World War II, leaving Phoebe in the case of her grandparents, Mignon (Mommy) and Roy (Big Daddy) Curry. Pinky met and fell in love with Jean Dooley during training in Kansas City, who came to Arkansas to raise a young girl, instilling a lifelong love of learning and passion for culture, and, giving her the greatest gifts of all, a beloved little brother (Tommy Curry) and Sister (Claire Curry Campbell). Phoebe lost her first husband, Robert Burris in a tragic accident one year after their marriage, later marrying Louis Dixon with whom she had two children, Lyle Lovelace of Pine Bluff and Louis Allyn Dixon Jr. of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and her grandson, Joel Anderson. For the past 45 years, she was married to Don Spharler, with whom Phoebe's family expanded to five children with the addition of Don's daughters, Kathy Crowder (Rogers), Michele Spharler Byrd (Sheridan), and Karen Spharler Majors (Springdale). We were often called the Brady Bunch. Special thanks to Michele Spharler Byrd, for her loving attention and care she devoted to Phoebe for the last 6 months and to Hospice Angels and especially Paula, the attending nurse. The family would like to invite friends and family to Ralph Robinson & Son for visitation, Wednesday, June 12, 2019, 4 to 6 p.m. There will be a private graveside service for the family, to be followed by a Celebration of Life for Phoebe for friends and family, June 13, 2019, at the Pine Bluff Country Club between 5 and 6 p.m. The Family requests that memorials be made to the Jefferson County Humane Society, or Southeast Arkansas Arts and Science Center.