Leola Jean Martin Crownover Bowren

Leola Jean Martin Crownover Bowren, 87, died Feb. 27, 2019, at Seven Springs Rehabilitation & Health Center in Heber Springs after a long illness. She was born on Sept. 27, 1931, at Banner in Cleburne County, the fourth of Lonnie A. and Audrey Sharp Martin's nine children. She grew up at nearby Concord where, at 16 in 1948, she became the first member of her family to graduate from high school and was her class salutatorian. Later that year she married a teacher, Doyle Crownover, the father of her four children. Lee was a gifted homemaker and needleworker. After the family moved from Greenbrier to North Little Rock in 1966, she began working as a secretary in the North Little Rock School District, first at Fourth Street Junior High and then at its new replacement, Rose City Junior High, where she was a second mother to thousands of children. She was also a second mother to scores of babies she cared for in the nursery of Sylvan Hills Church of Christ throughout the 1970s. She retired in 1981 and later moved to Floral in Independence County. She remarried, briefly, Leroy Bowren, whose last name she chose to keep the rest of her life. She is survived by two daughters, Andrea Sadler (Lary) of Coosada, Ala., and Gwen Moritz (Rob) of North Little Rock; and two sons, Alan Crownover (Jean) of Sherwood and Garth Crownover (Jeannie) of Old Hickory, Tenn.; brothers, Lyndle "Bud" Martin and Lowell Martin, and sister, Annetta Potter, all of Michigan; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers and two sisters. A visitation will be held from 10-11 a.m. Monday, March 4, at the Concord General Baptist Church, followed by a memorial service and burial at the nearby Concord Cemetery. Arrangements are being handled by Roller-Daniel Funeral Home of Searcy. Leola's children wish to express profound appreciation to the staff and management of Seven Spring for excellent care and compassion throughout our mother's illness. We suggest memorials take the form of donations to Arkansas Hospice (14 Parkstone Circle, North Little Rock, Ark. 72116), which provided invaluable assistance in her final days. Online guestbook: www.rollerfuneralhomes.com/Searcy.