Albert Duane Gaither

Albert Duane Gaither, 81, passed away June 15, 2022 at Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House in Jonesboro, Arkansas. He was born in Pensacola, Florida on February 5, 1941, the youngest child of the late Bert and Georgia Gaither.

Duane spent his youth in Lawrence County, and graduated from Walnut Ridge High School. He attended the University of Arkansas for a year before returning home where he would farm for the rest of his life. Duane was blessed to never have worked a day in his life because rice farming was not work—it was his life and passion. He couldn’t leave farming when he left the fields; Duane was an avid reader and continually studied rice farming. He was known as an innovator, driven to improve his yields and the quality of his crops. Rice farmers across the Mid-South knew Duane as the first among equals. He was named National Rice Farmer of the Year in 1995 by Rice Farming Magazine. His family was also honored with the Lawrence County  Farm Family of the Year.

Duane loved Jesus as much as he loved farming, and he fully recognized the partnership they forged in the rice fields. Duane understood that, despite all of his studying and innovations, in the end, each year’s crop was a blessing from above. He was a member of First Baptist Church in Jonesboro, where Sunday after Sunday, he and his wife, Linda, could be counted on to always sit on the same pew.

He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Linda Cathcart Gaither, of Jonesboro, Arkansas; daughters, Natalie Haag (Greg) of Jonesboro, Arkansas, Sheila Frank (Jim) of Atlanta, Georgia, and Sally Williams of Jonesboro, Arkansas; eight grandchildren, Caroline Haag of Bentonville, Arkansas, Elizabeth Haag Brandt of Nashville, Tennessee, Clay Williams of Dallas, Texas, Claire Williams, of Dallas, Texas, Caleb Williams of Fayetteville, Arkansas, James Frank, Emma Frank, and Kate Frank of Atlanta, Georgia.  Duane is also survived by his siblings, John Larry Gaither of North Carolina and Sharon Massey of Walnut Ridge, Arkansas.  He was preceded in death by his granddaughter, Sarah Frank.

A celebration of Duane’s life will be held Tuesday, June 21, 2022 at Emerson Funeral Home. The family will receive friends from 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. The celebration service will begin at 2:45 p.m.

Honored to serve as pallbearers are Clay Williams, Caleb Williams, Cooper Westbrook, James Frank, Jim Frank, and Greg Haag.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you please consider a memorial to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital in Memphis, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, Tennessee, 38105, or online at www.st.jude.org/donate.