Biography:

In grief we announce Elmo “Owen” Stoker Jr., 76, passed away following a battle with cancer. Owen was born in Warren, AR August 15, 1946, to Elmo and Claudelle (Garrison) Stoker. He lived most of his life in Little Rock where he called home.  

Following graduation from Hall High he headed to ASTC (Arkansas State Teachers College) on a marching band scholarship. He said that he played the clarinet, but his family never heard a note. Owen went off to serve his country as a member of the United States Navy. He spent time in Adak, AK and San Diego, CA, and later saw action during the Vietnam War aboard the USS Okinawa where he was an air traffic controller.  Owen came back to Little Rock following his naval career, where he became enamored by Miss Ann Nolte. They married on August 26, 1972, at Grace Lutheran Church in Little Rock. Owen and Ann enjoyed camping and fishing and loving one another until the time came to grow the Stoker unit. Small fry Cynthia followed by small fry Lindsay completed the family of 4. Together they carried on camping, fishing, and enjoying water and nature. He had continued to work as an air traffic controller as a civilian following his service in the Navy. That great period ended when Ronald Reagan decided to fire the air traffic controllers, whose union was on strike. Owen greatly disliked unions after that. He went back to school and became a certified public accountant. He worked hard as a CPA in various sectors ultimately settling in at the Timber Ridge Group where he worked for many years before retiring as their Chief Financial Officer. He’d come to make many close friends over the years before he hung up those calculators and spreadsheets.  

Owen was one of a kind. He lived for leisure. He was a voracious reader, a lover of history, a champion of wit and humor, and a formidable fisherman. His fishing prowess was unrivaled. He was a legend among friends and peers; his level of cool could not be matched. Throughout his life he caught all the fish from bream to bass to deep-sea fishing adventures, crappie to yellow fin tuna, and all the trout. He led the ranks of the family of friends known as the Brotherhood of the Hook. He loved the beauty of the White River and called Jacks Resort home many times a year. He once said, “I know this river like the back of my hand” just before hitting a rock and losing the entire lower unit of his outboard motor. Once following a devastating White River flood, Mary Hale Hinkle declared that she would need 2 rooms ready immediately, one for John Prine, and one for the Stokers. He loved trips to Shangri-la with the Brotherhood and many adventures offshore fishing in south Louisiana and Florida.

Above all else, he loved spending time with his family. Ann’s cooking was always “the best ____ he ever had”. His daughters were his proudest accomplishments. His greatest joy and source of pride was watching his beloved grandsons as they grew. Pappy was so pleased to watch the humans they were becoming and his eyes beamed whenever they were the topic of discussion. He cherished vacations to the beach, especially watching the grandboys and their sandy, salty antics. Many lifetimes’ worth of memories were made and will be endlessly cherished by those he left behind to carry on. We are grateful he has now forever escaped the allergy inducing ragweed, pesty biting flies and gnats, and most of all the dreadful chiggers lurking in the grasses.

He was preceded in death by his parents Elmo and Claudelle and his in-laws Paul and Jeanne Nolte. He is survived by his devoted wife of 50 years Ann (Nolte) Stoker, brother Dick Stoker (Sally), beloved daughters Cynthia McCrory (Scott) and Lindsay Zweifel (Jarrod), and cherished grandsons: Hayden and Owen McCrory and Fred and Walter Zweifel.

A visitation will be held Thursday April 27, 2023, at Ruebel Funeral Home from 5-7. A service will be held Friday April 28, 2023, at 11 a.m. at the Arkansas State Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock.