Julia Benton Sparks
Julia Benton Sparks, 90, of Fordyce, died Wednesday, March
8, 2006, at the Dallas County Medical Center in Fordyce. She
was a daughter of the late Effie Conner Benton and Hugh Bowers
Benton, a prominent business leader and entrepreneur in the
Fordyce and Dallas County area. Mrs. Sparks was the widow of
Thomas E. Sparks, a well known attorney and legislator.
Mrs. Sparks graduated from Fordyce High School in 1932. She
then attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri and Ouachita
Baptist University at Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where she was
a music major. She married Thomas E. Sparks on June 29, 1940.
They celebrated 61 years of marriage on the date of his death,
June 29, 2001.
Mrs. Sparks was a member of the First United Methodist Church
in Fordyce. She had been active in her church and community,
including the United Methodist Church Women’s Circle
and the Methodist Church Choir as well as a member of the Culture
Club and Sesame Club in Fordyce and a member of the Little
Rock Country Club. Mrs. Sparks worked during legislative sessions
at the Capitol during the years her husband served in the Arkansas
House of Representatives. She was an avid walker and maintained
her exercise regimen almost to the end of her life.
She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, two
sisters, Margaret Benton Hornaday Scaling and Ruth Benton Estes
and one daughter, Helen Benton Sparks. She is suvived by one
son, Thomas E. Sparks, Jr. of San Francisco, California, one
daughter, Julianna Sparks Dickey of Berkeley, California, one
sister, Frances Benton Meador of Fordyce, four grandchildren,
Jennifer D. Dickey of Seattle, Washington, Thomas G. Sparks
of San Francisco, California, Lt. Erik R. Sparks, U.S. Army
Aviation, serving in Iraq and Andrew P. Sparks of San Francisco,
California. She is also survived by three nieces, Laura Margaret
Hornaday and Mary Jane Hornaday of New Orleans, Louisiana,
and Sally Estes Dubay of North Augusta, South Carolina, three
nephews, John Benton Meador, Hugh Conner Meador and Joe Bill
Meador, all of Fordyce.
Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Monday March 13, 2006,
at the Benton Funeral Home Chapel in Fordyce. Visitation will
be Sunday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial
will be in Oakland Cemetery in Fordyce by Benton Funeral Home
Inc. of Fordyce. To sign the online register visit www.bentonfuneralhome.com
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