Linda Fletcher Mckay

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Linda Fletcher McKay of Lake City, Arkansas’ first female state police trooper, passed away Wednesday, October 18, at St. Bernard’s Hospital in Jonesboro.

She graduated from the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in 1988 and was assigned to West Memphis as a trooper. She later transferred to the Arkansas Highway Police, for whom she worked until her retirement in 1999. Her duty stations included Crittenden County, Washington County, Mississippi County, and Faulkner County.

A native of Craighead County, she was born at St. Bernard’s on Dec. 11, 1947, to Ernest “Shorty” Fletcher and Marjory Bradley Fletcher. She attended Arkansas State University. She was a member of the VFW Ladies Auxiliary in Jonesboro, and was a Baptist. She was predeceased by her parents and an infant daughter.

Linda is survived by one daughter, Leah Hillis McKay Michaels of Lake City; two grandchildren who were the center of her world, Kelsey Lee Hillis Michaels (“Kels”) and Trey Michaels (“Bubba”), both of Lake City, as well as three brothers, Marion Fletcher of Hot Springs, Larry Fletcher (Ryn) of Cave Springs, and Mike Fletcher of Hot Springs, and many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by a long-time close friend and “soul sister,” Kay Brockwell of Jonesboro, and her three daughters to whom Linda was “Udder Mudder,” Jamie Brockwell, Cara Brockwell Ellis, and Sara Stocker. Also surviving are many friends across Arkansas, and especially those with whom she often played bingo.

Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 24, at Emerson Funeral Home in Jonesboro. A private graveside service is planned in Jonesboro Memorial Park under the direction of Emerson Funeral Home.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a scholarship fund for her grandchildren, which is set up at First National Bank in Jonesboro.