Phyllis Ruocco

Phyllis Ruocco, 79, of Alexander, Arkansas, died peacefully Tuesday, October 15, 2024, in the care of Arkansas Hospice at CHI St. Vincent Infirmary in Little Rock, Arkansas, after a long battle with cancer.

Phyllis Ray was born on November 6, 1944, in Camden, Arkansas, to Audrey Holloway Ray and John William Ray of Sparkman, Arkansas. She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers, Tony Ray and Sonny Ray.

She is survived by a sister-in-law, Linda Ray; two half sisters, Jackie Rutherford and Patricia Ray; a half brother, John Ray; her former husband, John Ruocco; and many friends and members of the local Baha'i community.

Phyllis was a teacher, an editor and a gifted concert pianist.

She earned a Bachelor of Music degree from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, a Master of Music from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of North Texas in Denton. Her post-doctoral studies included a Diplome Superieur in Piano Performance at the Conservatoire Royale de Musique in Brussels, Belgium; and a Diplome Eerst at Stedelijke Muziek Conservatorium in Mechelen, Belgium.

She was an instructor of music theory at the Chotard Institute of Music in Little Rock, where she coached and accompanied vocal students, preparing and rehearsing them for opera performances. She was a professor of music at Philander Smith College in Little Rock; and before that, an assistant professor of Music at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro.

Earlier in her career, she served as pianist for the Royal School of Music Ballet Division at Conservatoire Royale de Musique in The Hague, Netherlands, creating and performing music for ballet classes and performances, and accompanying classes and rehearsals with the Netherlands Dance Theatre and the Scapino Ballet. She had also been an instructor of piano and music theory for the British School of Brussels in Brussels, Belgium.

Phyllis was an active member of the Baha'i Faith for many years and often played piano and led songs at the Baha'i Center in Little Rock. She wrote and sang Baha'i songs for children and directed a Baha'i choir in Little Rock intermittently over the years, bringing the joy of music to many.

A funeral service will take place at noon Friday, October 18, 2024, at Smith Little Rock Funeral Home, 8801 Knoedl Court, Little Rock, Arkansas. A graveside service will follow at 3:00 p.m. at Pinecrest Memorial Park, 7401 Arkansas 5 N. in Alexander.