Biography: Frances Wilson Devany Shackelford of Little Rock and Montrose died Sunday, November 24, 2013. She was born in Dendron, Virginia in 1923, the daughter of Jacqueline Epes and Walter Leslie Devany, Jr. At age three, Frances went to south Arkansas to live with her aunt and uncle, Frances Devany and Samuel Joel Wilson, who later adopted her. She attended the Hockaday School in Dallas, Fairmont College in Washington, D.C. and the University of Arkansas, where she was a Chi Omega. Frances traveled each summer to Virginia to visit her father and mother and her sisters Anne Freeman Devany Wood and Rebecca Bland Devany, and a brother Walter Leslie Devany III. The three siblings remained close friends and traveling companions throughout their long lives. Frances is survived by her son Louis Craig Shackelford, Jr. and his wife Ann of Montrose, and her daughters Rebecca Bland Shackelford Currie of Wilmot, Frances Wilson Shackelford and Gladys Parks Shackelford Whitney and her husband Haynes, all of Little Rock. She leaves behind devoted grandchildren Jacqueline Epes Currie Shrider and her husband Seth of Little Rock, Frances Bellfield Currie and Virginia deYampert Currie, both of New Orleans, Thomas Haynes Whitney III of Little Rock, Samuel Wilson Shackelford and Bland Devany Shackelford of Montrose, and Ann Alston Devany Shackelford of Boston, and great-grandchildren John Edwin (Jack) and Elizabeth Bland Shrider, all of whom called her Tootsie Berry. Frances was proud of her early and continuing involvement with The Arkansas Arts Center, the Arkansas Arts Council, the Mid-America Arts Alliance, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and she felt a special connection and commitment to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, where she served on the Foundation board for many years. A celebration for Frances will be held at a later date. The family will be at 8 Rivermist Circle from 4pm until 8pm on Tuesday, November 26, 2013. A graveside will be held Wednesday, November 27, 2013 at Portland Cemetery, Portland, AR. Memorials may be made to the Psychiatric Research Institute at UAMS, 4301 W Markham St #554, Little Rock AR 72205. Arrangements are under the direction of Ruebel Funeral Home, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com
I am sorry to hear of your mother's passing. You have been on my mind much over the years and Iknow how dear a mother is. I pray your and your family are doing well. As you know I didn't know your mother but I knew your and you are a dear. She had much to do with that.
Donna