Mildred Kenner

Mildred Gebhart Kenner, 86, of Jonesboro passed away in the early hours of the morning March 18, 2017.

Mildred was born in Gould, Okla., on February 17, 1931. She graduated from Hollis (Okla.) High and then earned a BA in English from Panhandle A & M College in Goodwell, Okla., in 1954. She married Charles Kenner, her college sweetheart, on June 1, 1954, in Clayton, N.M. From that time on, with few breaks, she was a school teacher. From a two-room schoolhouse in the Panhandle of Texas to the Kindergarten Center at Jonesboro, Ark., Mildred loved and taught so many young children. For most of her career, she taught first grade, although she was teaching kindergarten when she retired. Teaching was also a lifelong learning experience for her — she went on to earn both a master’s degree and a specialist in developmental reading, both from Arkansas State University.

Married to an educator, the teaching schedules gave the couple ample time to pursue their main hobby — traveling. Almost always accompanied by their three children, the Kenner family took long summer vacations. Mildred was a devoted mother and her children remember the many games and stories she invented to entertain them. She also was a poet and rarely missed a family birthday without writing a special poem for the honoree. Coming from a large family herself, Mildred loved her family. After retirement, she and Charles had many happy years of traveling together, even achieving their goal of visiting each of the 50 states.

Mildred was a member of First United Methodist Church in Jonesboro, Ark.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Charles Kenner, her parents, Willie and Cora Gebhart, and her brothers, Claudie and Jewell Gebhart, her sisters, Lavada Browder, Ruth Dewberry, Lois Dulaney and Lela Speck.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, LaQuita Saunders and Jeff Crump of Jonesboro, Ark.; her son, Rick Kenner, of Fort Worth, Texas; her son and daughter-in-law Kevin and Kathy Kenner, of Greenville, Texas; six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren (with one more on the way); a sister, Madge West, of Amarillo, Texas and a sister Billy Preston, of Houston.

Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Sunday, March 19, with funeral service at 10:30 a.m. Monday morning at Emerson Funeral Home in Jonesboro Burial will follow at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 22, at Fairlawn Cemetery in Elk City, Okla.

Pallbearers will be her grandsons, Charles Saunders, of Little Rock, Ark.; Eric Saunders, of Washington, D.C.; Sean Saunders, of Jonesboro, Ark. Also, Christian Smith and Justin Rickman, both of Greenville, Texas; and Hal Saunders, of Jonesboro, Ark.

For lasting memorials, the family wishes to recommend the Dr. Charles Kenner Scholarship Fund through the Arkansas State University Foundation, PO Box 1990, State University, AR 72467.

The family wishes to extend its sincere thanks to the doctors at the Clopton Clinic, the staff at St. Elizabeth’s Nursing Home and the St. Bernard’s Hospice.