Sterling Cockrill
Apr 7, 1925 - Mar 23rd, 2022- Birth Date: Apr 7, 1925
- Death Date: Mar 23, 2022
- Funeral Date: Apr 19, 2022, 5:00 pm
- Location: Ruebel Funeral Home
- Print this Obituary
Biography: Sterling R Cockrill passed away March 23, 2022, two weeks before his 97th birthday. He is survived by his wife of 76 years, Adrienne Storey Cockill, two daughters, Mary Cockrill and Anne Laser, two grandchildren, Lila Pearsall Quinn and Sterling Warnock and a great-grandchild, Aria Warnock.
A lifelong resident of Little Rock, he graduated early to go into officer training in the US Navy during WWII then later was sent to Guam during the Korean War. By then he had graduated from the University of Arkansas, where he'd been a member of Sigma Chi fraternity. After graduating from the university, he was sent back to Guam w/his wife and daughter for another year.
Upon returning to Little Rock, he joined his father Sterling R Cockrill Sr to work in the family insurance agency. During this time, he became interested in politics and ran for, and won, a seat in the Arkansas House of Representatives, where he served for fourteen years becoming Speaker of the House and then Democratic Majority Leader.
Frustrated with the Old Guard democrats dogged refusal to compromise or cooperate with the Republican members of the House, he resigned his position and switched parties, running for Lt Governor on the Republican ticket with Winthrop Rockefeller in 1970.
After the campaign, he did not again seek public office. From 1971 to 1978, he worked as an urban planner in the Little Rock office of the United States Dept of Housing and Urban Development. He was subsequently the director of several organizations dedicated to the revitalization of downtown Little Rock, such as Little Rock Unlimited Progress and the Metrocentre Improvement District.
A prolific, mostly self-taught artist he worked in several mediums before turning to work in weathered barn wood to create what he called "Boardworks". His work was popular with the public and sold well. He also donated generously to many non-profit fundraisers. His work reflected his sense of humor, his love of whimsy and puns and his inspiration by and admiration for the abstracted works of Picasso. He was an outgoing and creative man. A lover of jazz, art, nature and wayward dogs. Known and admired for his humor, kindness, compassion, and personal integrity. He made the world a better place.
A visitation/reception will be held on Tuesday, April 19, 2022, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Ruebel funeral Home. Internment of his ashes at Mt Holly Cemetery will include a small gathering of friends and family at a date to be announced. The family requests, in lieu of flowers, that donations in his honor be made to a favorite charity or any animal shelter.