Dollie Jane Word

Dollie Jane Smart Word (91) passed from this life to the next, on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. For the last months of her life she was a resident at Lakewood Nursing & Rehab in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Like autumn fruit she mellowed till the day she fell. Her balanced soul was neither dulled by the toils of life nor embittered by its hardships. 

Dollie was born on March 4, 1931, at home on Culpepper Mountain in Van Buren County, Arkansas. Her parents were Bryant and Tennie Smart. She grew up alongside one brother, Frank Smart, and two sisters, Wilma Finley and Edna Faye Carradine. Dollie graduated from Clinton High School. On August 23, 1958, she married Gene Word. Gene passed away in November 1983. He was one of the elders of the Sixth & Izard congregation for a number of years. Dollie lived a lonely life since the day Gene died. They were so devoted to each other that more of her was with him on the other side than on this since that day.

Dollie worked for Southwestern Bell as a switchboard operator until Missy was born. After that she stayed home to rear her children. Together they reared three children: Missy, Paul and Leah. Each of them have carried on the spiritual legacy that was left to them by Gene and Dollie Word. Dollie had a die-hard evangelistic spirit. She went on overseas missionary trips – one to Romania and another to Albania. At the Lakewood Nursing & Rehab she would ask people about their spiritual lives. It would be hard to find a woman anywhere more highly respected than Dollie Word.

Dollie was a very kind and loving lady with a deep faith in God. She served her Savior with the saints at the Mabelvale Church of Christ since 2003. In Jesus her eye was single, and her whole body was full of light. She was one of the most diligent Bible students to be found anywhere. She was quiet, but if you asked about her family, she would tell you how proud she was of each one. She was highly skilled as a seamstress. She made clothing, and did alterations for people, for as long as her eyesight would allow her to do it. She also loved to cook, which kept her busy in recent years. 

Dollie is survived by her sisters, Wilma Finley, of Star City and Edna Fay Caradine, of Benton. She is remembered and adored by her children: Paul Word (Tarena), Missy Thompson (Wendell) and Leah Goodsell (Mark), and a wonderful family of grandchildren including Callie Sullivan (Kyle), Caleb Thompson (Abby), Emma Rowlett (Sam), Grant Goodsell (Ali), Wilson and William Word. Her great-grandchildren include Blair Goodsell, Cooper Thompson, Mia, and Sawyer Rowlett who is expected on January 25th. 

She was preceded in death by her husband Gene, her brother Frank Smart, and grandson Jake Thompson. From the increasing tension of a body in turmoil Dollie is now freed. Because of Jesus she now awaits a new body in the resurrection. We have no reason to mourn a heart grown cold or a head grown gray in vain. All that Dollie ever meant to us she still does. Only her bodily presence has departed.

In lieu of flowers, send donations to Paragould Children’s Home or Partner’s in Progress, 13989 Maumelle Blvd, Maumelle, AR 72113.