Wanda "June" Pruitt

Wanda June Waymire Pruitt passed away Tuesday, August 2nd, at age 92, in Benton, Arkansas. June was born May 21, 1930, in the Oakdale, Wattensaw, Bethlehem area of Lonoke County to Noah Marlon and Mary Ellen Smith Waymire. June married the love of her life, Hulon Thurman Pruitt on August 2, 1947, and they had 75 years together, 4 spent in Memphis, Tennesee, 12 in South Carolina, and the rest in Arkansas.

She started school at Oakdale when she was 5 and graduated from Beebe High School in 1947. She was active in sports, having played on both a basketball team in school, and in later years on a church softball team as a pitcher. June began working immediately after high school and continued to work throughout her life. Her favorites were as a bookkeeper for R.J. Foreman Trucking Co., in Beech Island, South Carolina, and as bookkeeper/optometry technician for Drs. MacDaniel and Nelson in North Little Rock, Arkansas, from where she retired. Her greatest love was reading and writing, and she wrote poetry almost as soon as she learned to write. Growing up, she was always interested in listening to the older people tell their stories of where they came from, which sparked her interest in genealogy. In later years, her little granddaughter would make pictures of random cemeteries for June, because she might have relatives in them.

In South Carolina, June was active in Civic Club, WMU at Matlock Baptist Church, and taught Sunday Schools classes both there, and back in Arkansas. She became an active member of Poets' Roundtable of Arkansas in 1972 and has had published works. Her hobby of digging up ancestors led to becoming a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, (DAR) in 1987. She served as Regent of Provincia De La Sal Chapter in Benton, AR for 4 years, as well as in other capacities over the years, in addition to serving on the state level as Chairman of American Heritage, among others.

She was predeceased by her younger brothers, Billy Joe and Jerry Morris Waymire.

June is survived by her husband Hulon; her daughter Sandra and Son-in-law, Charles Ronald Brown; granddaughter, Aimee Kindy;  grandson, Alan Brown;  great-grandchildren: Bryson, Makinley, and Hunter Kindy; three brothers and her sisters-in-law: Marlon and Peggy Waymire, Bob and Barbara Waymire, and Jim and Lynn Waymire; also two sisters-in-law; Audrey Waymire Zarr and Ruth Waymire; her sister-in-law, Pearlene Pruitt Kitts and her husband Charles; a host of nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, and too many cousins to count!

Visitation will be held Tuesday, August 9, from 10:00-11:30 AM, followed by funeral service, officiated by Rev. John McAnally, at 11:30 AM at Smith-Benton Funeral Home, 322 N. Market Street, in Benton, Arkansas.  Burial to follow at New Hope Cemetery in Carlisle, Arkansas. Assisting as pallbearers are Bryson Kindy, Hunter Kindy, Danny Mundy, Ronnie Waymire, Caleb Zimmerman, Grayson McAnally, Matt McAnally, Steven McAnally, and Nathan McAnally.  

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Special Olympics of Arkansas at https://support.specialolympics.org/a/arkansas.

Services entrusted to Smith-Benton Funeral Home.  Online guestbook:  www.SmithFamilyCares.com.