Melba Jewel Anthony

Melba Jewel Franklin Anthony, age 98, died November 24, 2020, at Quapaw Care and Rehabilitation Center in Hot Springs, Ark. She was born in Magnolia, Ark. September 25, 1922, to James Samuel and Jewel Stigall Franklin of Magnolia. Melba and Garland (Jiggs) Anthony, Jr. married in 1942, starting their family in Magnolia and Woodville, Texas before settling in Fordyce to raise their family, later retiring to Little Rock. Melba found joy in expressing her affection for family and friends with gourmet cooking, her art, imaginative hand-made gifts of needlework, beadwork, and decorations – keepsakes that continue to inspire generations. She delighted in her grandchildren, and in later years enjoyed traveling throughout Europe with daughter Ann. She instilled her passion for theater in her children that has endured in her grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. Melba is survived by daughter Beth and husband Richard Lightbown of Toronto; Garland Anthony III and wife Angela of Hot Springs; daughter Ann Stanley of Little Rock, and seven grandchildren: Erin Snyder and husband Bryce of Seattle; Ashley Hawkins and husband Simeon Lipman of Manhattan; Gay Anthony of North Little Rock; Garland (Tony) Anthony IV of Tulsa; Morgan (Beth) Cope of Hot Springs; Walker Lasiter and wife Clare of New Orleans; Jake Lasiter and wife Karla of Little Rock, and 13 great-grandchildren: Jewel and Sumner Snyder; Maxwell and Emerson Hawkins-Lipman; Seth Anthony, fiancée Dulce and two beloved step-daughters Alice and Alexa; Jordan and Rylee Anthony; Cree Abdullah; Nathan and Garland Cope and wife Anna; Grace, Olivia and Emily Lasiter, as well as sister-in-law Velda Rose Anthony Walters of Tulsa; life-long friend and cousin, Mary Warnock Harsh of Magnolia, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband and brothers Willard, Alvin and Rudolph Franklin. The family is deeply grateful to Quapaw Care and Rehabilitation Center for their kind, personal and compassionate care for the last eight years of her life. A brief graveside service will be held at 11 a.m., Monday, November 30, at Bethel Cemetery at Hopevillle, where she will be buried alongside Jiggs. Arrangements are by Benton Funeral Home of Fordyce, whose online register may be found at www.bentonfuneralhome.net.