Deborah McAfee

Deborah Carol Harvell was born November 11, 1951, and passed away Wednesday, August 14, 2024, at the age of 72.

In 1970, she married her high school sweetheart Joe McAfee, and they shared 52 fulfilling years and reared five children together.

Always aware of her spiritual need, Deborah visited and studied with many churches in search of the truth. In 1974, she was baptized as one of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Since then, she was privileged to spend many years building and remodeling Kingdom Halls and in full-time ministry sharing the Bible truths she held dear.

She enjoyed travel, gardening, all manner of crafts, and spending time with Joe, their dog Janie, and all her kids and grandchildren, who called her Gramma or Gremo.

Deborah believed that if someone could be hired to do a job, she could do it herself. She almost single-handedly built the family home; sewed all her young daughters’ dresses; cooked well; hosted gatherings; raised show quality rabbits and chickens; made stunning professional wedding cakes; had a natural talent for decorating; and so many more talents and achievements. She instilled in her children a love for language, plants, animals, and most importantly for Jehovah. Of all these accomplishments, if you asked her what she was proudest of, she would say her kids and grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Joe McAfee, and her parents, Thomas and Martha Harvell.

She is survived by her five children, Jennifer Totten (Nathan), Amy Smith (Scott), Thomas McAfee (Mica Buono), Joanna Sain (Devin), and Kimberly Bell (Matthew); eight grandchildren, Sophia Totten Paddock (Ebon), Emma Smith Miller (Josh) and Shepherd Smith, Ella and Lila McAfee, Lilly and Willoughby Sain, and Molly Bell; four sisters, Janet Newton of Mosspoint, MS, Mary Smith of Beebe, AR, Susan Overstreet of Judsonia, AR, Lisa Varnell of Floral, AR; and two brothers, Gary Harvell of Evergreen, AL, and David Harvell of Beebe, AR; and a “cloud of witnesses” and friends.

Services will be held August 31st at 2:00 p.m. at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses at 908 AR - 367 N, Judsonia, Arkansas. To view the online obituary, please visit www.smithfamilycares.com