Mitchell Wayne Doyle

Mitchell “Mickey” Wayne Doyle, 60, of North Little Rock died Friday, March 1, 2024, in Russellville, Ark. He was born Feb. 13, 1964, in El Paso, Texas, to Deloy “Dee” Allen Doyle and Connie Goyer Doyle. 

During his childhood, he lived in Hannibal, Mo., and in Searcy, Hope, Conway and Russellville, Ark. He graduated from Russellville High School in 1982. He earned a journalism degree from Arkansas Tech University in 1986. 

During his journalism career, he was a sports writer, copy editor and page designer for several Arkansas newspapers. He worked in the sports departments of the Springdale News in Springdale, the Sentinel-Record in Hot Springs and the Northwest Arkansas Times in Fayetteville. He worked on the news copy and design desks of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Springdale and Lowell and the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Little Rock. 

As a sports writer, he took pride in crafting tight copy, including all the important details without extra fluff. As a copy editor, he was known for making great catches and disliking the extra fluff of other writers. As a designer, he used his talent for problem-solving and his calculating mind to shoehorn content into a tight news hole, to attractively fill a loose one, and to deftly adjust for breaking news and late changes. He passed on his knowledge by training numerous colleagues over the years.

Mickey enjoyed keeping sports statistics, particularly for high school track meets and football games using an Excel record-keeping system he created and continually tweaked to improve the formulas.

Mickey received the Carl E. Steward Service Award from the Arkansas Track and Field Hall of Fame in 2018, and he won a first place award for headline writing from the Arkansas Associated Press Managing Editors Association in 1992. In 2015, Mickey and his father, Dee, who had a long career in radio, were honored together by the Arkansas Activities Association with the Distinguished Service Award for their contributions in news media.

He was a longtime fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and Pink Floyd. He enjoyed photography and drawing on his tablet using Procreate. He loved to figure things out, from teaching himself to play guitar to learning new computer programs and shortcuts. He was on a never-ending pursuit of the most efficient way to accomplish something and enjoyed sharing that knowledge with anyone who would listen.

He was a kind and gentle soul, a loyal friend, a helpful coworker and a loving cat dad.

Mickey was married to Megan Lewis-Reed from 2005 to 2015. After their divorce, they remained close friends. While perhaps unorthodox, he requested this information be included in his obituary as an example to others that relationships may change but people can still be friends and have love and respect for one another.

Survivors include his siblings, Lisa (Rodney) Yeager of Russellville, Ark., Rhonda (Larry) Cain of Madison, Ala., Scott (Marina) Doyle of Escondido, Calif., and Todd (Lori) Doyle of Orcas Island, Wash.; three nieces; four nephews; two great-nieces and a great-nephew.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

A memorial service will be held Friday, March 8, at 11 a.m. at Smith Funeral Home in North Little Rock with a visitation to be held 1 hour prior. Services entrusted to Smith North Little Rock Funeral Home, 1921 Main St., North Little Rock, AR 72206. (501) 758-1170. Sign the guestbook at www.smithfamilycares.com. 

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Mickey's name to supporting local journalism with a subscription or a local animal welfare organization.