Joseph R Foster, Jr.

Joseph “Joe” Robinson Foster, Jr, 94, passed away peacefully surrounded by loving members of his family and compassionate caregivers on September 9, 2022. He was born May 4, 1928 in Keo, Lonoke County Arkansas to Joseph Robinson Foster and Josephine Crutchfield Foster. Joe’s maternal grandfather was William Alvis Crutchfield, an early Ouachita Baptist University seminarian and minister. Joe and his wife Jamie were long time members of Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock.

Joe graduated from England High School in 1946 with honors. Following high school he entered the US Air Force rising to the rank of First Lieutenant during a four year tour of Africa and the Middle East. Because of his interest in law, Joe became an inductee in the JAG (Judge Advocate General) program in support of his country in the years following WWII. He was honorably discharged in 1951.

After fulfilling his duty in the US military, Joe earned his Bachelor’s Degree from Little Rock University, now UALR, soon followed by a Master's Degree in Higher Education from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Throughout his entire career Joe focused on improving the quality of education in the state of Arkansas. He first served as a high school teacher and thereafter a district superintendent. His early successes as an educator ultimately lead him to become the Director of Elementary Education for the Arkansas Department of Education, where he retired in 1985. Among his many accomplishments over the course of his long career, Joe was the most proud of having led the planning and implementation of kindergarten in Arkansas Public Schools where 90% of the State’s 5-year-olds were in attendance the first year. Joe believed that education of our state’s youth was an essential investment in the future growth of Arkansas.

Joe is survived by his loving wife, Jamie Stevens Foster; his son, Steve (Cheri) Foster; daughters, Valerie (Erik) Hoeger and Jacqueline (Brian) Howe; sisters, Mallie Foster Allison and Judy Foster (Rusty) Evans; grandchildren, Spencer (Marissa) Foster, Keaton and Skyler Hoeger; great-grandchildren, Maddox and Rowen Foster; numerous nieces and nephews – and, according to Joe, every one of them was his favorite! Joe knew no strangers; his generous spirit and affable nature endeared him to many over his entire lifetime.

Preceding him in death by his parents; brother William “Bill” Franklin Foster, Sr.; sisters, Margaret Foster Perkins, Elizabeth Foster Palmer, Marylene Foster Shaw, and Theresa Foster Yarborough.

The family gathered at Mulberry Cemetery in England, AR on September 16, for a graveside service with military honors, followed by a Celebration of Life of family and friends at Moss Mountain Farm, home of his great nephew, P. Allen Smith.

Joe’s entire family is eternally grateful to the nurses and caregivers at Memory Care of Arkansas for the joy, care and compassion that they brought to Joe in the last few years of his life. Their dedication and attention to the needs of their residents in the face of Covid was nothing short of heroic. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimer’s Foundation.

Arrangements by Smith Little Rock Funeral Home, 8801 Knoedl Court, Little Rock, AR 72205, 501-224-2200.