James E. "Jim" Vaughn

James E. “Jim” Vaughn of Jonesboro, formerly of Delaplaine, went to be with our Lord June 16, 2013. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Wanda Lee Vaughn, a niece Melanie Lemley of Pasadena, California; a nephew James (Skip) Jacobs of Palmdale, California; four great-nieces; four great-nephews; and many relatives and friends. He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Jonesboro.

Born December 7, 1925 at Ashland, Kentucky, he was preceded in death by his parents, James and Frances Lynk Vaughn; his brother George Vaughn, and a sister Ida M. Vaughn Jacobs.
Mr. Vaughn was a student at Michigan State College when he entered the U. S. Navy
during World War II. He achieved the rank of lieutenant. He attended Arkansas A&M at Monticello, received his BA from Oklahoma University in 1947, and his MSE from Arkansas State University in 1962. He managed a commercial broadcast station in Miami, Florida for a time before moving with his wife to Arkansas in 1955. He was a member of the Arkansas Educational Telecommunications Commission from 1980 to 1988, and played a major role in establishing a statewide academic competition known as Quiz Bowl. He served as a director of Riceland Food's Corning division, and as a member of the Arkansas State University Chancellor's Cabinet. Mr. Vaughn was a teacher and principal at Hoxie High School in the 1960s. Over a period of some twenty years he authored more than 60 instructional books and computer programs, including a software program for Apple IT computers that was included in NASA’s second catalog for aerospace education. His first work of fiction won the 1993 Heartland Writers' Guild award for Contemporary Fiction. He has published two novels.

Funeral services will be conducted at Emerson Funeral Home in Jonesboro Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 2:00 p.m.by Kathy Holler, preceded by a period of visitation for family and friends from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Eulogists are Reverend Warner Allen and Charlotte Rogers Myers.

Active pallbearers are Steve May, Fred Schmidt, Keith Mosby, Billie Joe Rice, Garland Gilmore, Bill Lovelady, Frank Rice, Jim Finley, and Bill Caldwell. Honorary pallbearers are Tom Waldron, Larry Mouser, Jack French, Dr. Don Berry, Rupert White, Paul Osborn, Eli Murray, John Ed Wilkinson, and Hoxie Class of 1966. Music will be provided by Danny & Jimmye Carol Watson and Darlene Moore. Burial will follow in Greene County Memorial Gardens in Paragould.

For those wishing to leave a lasting memorial, the family of the deceased asks that
consideration be given to the Salvation Army, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, or the Northeast Arkansas Humane Society of Jonesboro.