Dorothy Davis Stuck

DOROTHY DAVIS STUCK, longtime newspaper editor, publisher, and civil rights advocate, died July 1, 2021, in Little Rock, Ark., at the age of 100. She was born February 5, 1921, in Gravette, Ark., the daughter of Floyd and Mimi Davis. She grew up in Muskogee, Okla., graduating from Muskogee High School. She received her bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas where she was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority. She later served as editor of The Arrow, the sorority's national magazine. She was also named as one of the university's Distinguished Alumni in 2008. She married Howard C. Stuck, Jr., and while living in Marked Tree, Ark., they purchased and published three newspapers, the Marked Tree Tribune, the Lepanto News Record, and the Truman Democrat. Dorothy served as editor of the Marked Tree Tribune. She was a founding member of Arkansas Press Women and served a term as its president. In 1968 she was elected to represent Poinsett County in the Arkansas Constitutional Convention and was elected to chair the Suffrage and Elections Committee, the only woman to chair a major committee. She was later named director of the five-state Dallas Region of the Office for Civil Rights, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. During her tenure, she received HEW's highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, for her leadership in civil rights. During her time in Dallas, she was the first woman to chair the Federal Executives Board and was named one of the Top Ten Woman News Shapers in the city. Upon her return to Arkansas, she and Nan Snow formed Stuck & Snow Resultants, a management consulting firm in Little Rock. Upon their retirement, they co-authored an award-winning biography, "Roberta: A Most Remarkable Fulbright." Dorothy was a founding board member of Southern Bancorp, and her contributions to the organization were recognized by the establishment of the Dorothy D. Stuck Empowerment Award given annually to the Southern Bancorp employee who best exemplifies her ideals. She was also a longtime board member of the Winthrop Rockefeller Lecture Services board and an inductee in the Arkansas Women's Hall of Fame. Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents; Floyd and Mimi Davis; her brother, Floyd Hughes Davis; her husband, Howard C. Stuck, Jr.; and her son, Howard C. Stuck III. At her request, there will be no memorial services. She will be buried alongside her husband and son in Oaklawn Cemetery, Jonesboro, Ark. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com.