Robert “Bob†Roland Hufstedler, 74, of Birdell, Arkansas, passed away on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at his home, surrounded by his loved ones. Bob was born in Birdell, on Thursday, September 16, 1943, the third of four children, and the only son of Glen Ray Hufstedler and Jessie Lucille Foster Hufstedler.
On June 4, 1966, Bob married Kathy Diane Damouth at the Birdell Chuch of Christ. They were married for fifty-two wonderful years, and were blessed with two children, and three grandchildren.
Bob lived a full life, marked by a devotion to both his family and community. This manifested itself in his lifelong membership at the Birdell Church of Christ, where he served as an elder from 2005 to 2014; his forty-three-year membership with the North Arkansas Western Association, where he served as President during various show seasons, and represented the association at the state level; his fifteen years of service on the Sloan-Hendrix School Board; his tenure as Justice of the Peace of Randolph County, from 1989 to 1994; his six years of service in the Army National Guard, from 1965 to 1971; and his thirty-three-year career at the Brown Shoe company, in Pocahontas.
Bob was a lifelong horseman, a love which he passed down to his children and grandchildren. Bob continued competing with the North Arkansas Western Association into his sixties, winning third place in the flag race at the 2007 Arkansas State Championship Horse Show. Bob attended every horse show possible until his health would no longer permit it.
However, horse showing was not the only activity Bob could be counted on to attend. Whenever his children or grandchildren were involved, from school plays to basketball games to overnight quiz bowl tournaments, Bob could be counted on to be the first one in the doors and the last one out.
Bob is preceded in death by his parents.
Bob will be lovingly remembered by his wife of fifty-two years Kathy; son, Robert Jeffrey “Jeff†(Maenola Hardin) Hufstedler; daughter, Jennifer Elizabeth (Ricky) Grisham; grandchildren, Jesse Glen Hardin Hufstedler, Marlie Jo Hardin Hufstedler, and Cade Scott Grisham; sisters, Joyce Colston, Wilma Dockens, and Leanna Olney; several nieces, nephews, cousins, and one aunt, Mary Lou Grissom.
Though he will be greatly missed, we know that our husband, father, and Pa is now in a better place. The people and legacy he leaves behind are a testament to his life, too short though it was. May he rest in peace with a halter on his shoulder and a feed bucket in his hand.
All services will be held in the chapel of the Fears Family Funeral Home, in Pocahontas. Visitation will be on Friday, June 22, 2018, from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm. A funeral service will immediately follow, at 3:00 pm; Gerald Fears, officiating.
Cremation has been chosen as the method of final disposition. The cremation process will be initiated at the conclusion of all services.