Biography: Sarah Carolyn Kirkpatrick, age 86, died peacefully at Woodland Heights Senior Living Facility surrounded by family on October 8, 2024. Carolyn was born on August 18, 1938, to Daniel Westall Reynolds and Virgie Brown Reynolds in Republican, Arkansas and was raised in Greenbrier. She graduated from Greenbrier High School where she was an All-State basketball player. She married the love of her life, Don O'Neal Kirkpatrick. They were inseparable for 47 years until Don's death in 2003.

Carolyn and Don were co-owners of Quality Foods, Inc. which became the twelfth largest independent foodservice distributor in the United States before being purchased by Performance Food Group. As a longtime member of St. James United Methodist Church, Carolyn served on the "Under the Bridge" ministry and was an active member of the New Challenges Sunday School class. Carolyn served for more than a decade as a member of the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging Community Advisory Board where she received the Jo Ellen Ford Distinguished Service Award. Together with her husband, Don, they created an Endowed Chair in the UAMS College of Medicine Division of Cardiovascular Medicine.

Carolyn loved her church and family, and traveling with her husband, Don.

In addition to her parents and her husband, Carolyn was preceded in death by her siblings Doris Ackerman, Johnnie George, Maxine Castleberry and Joe Reynolds. Survivors include her four children, Donna Isom (Butch), Debbie Makris (George), Gina Tappan (Philip) and Neal Kirkpatrick (Lisa); her grandchildren David Isom, III (Lauren), George Makris, III (Caroline), Nick Makris (Lindsay), John Makris, Drew Tappan (Katherine), Madison Tappan (Brooke), Sarah Drake (Michael), Elizabeth Kirkpatrick and Wesley Kirkpatrick as well as thirteen great grandchildren.

The family would like to thank her personal caregivers Markell Caster, Carrie Woods, Pamela Dilworth, Erika Henderson, Carolyn Mitchell, Keisha's Home Health and SeniorKare as well as the staff of Woodland Heights Memory Care and Gentiva Hospice.

A private family service will be held. Memorials may be made to St. James United Methodist Church (321 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock, Arkansas, 72212) or to the Arkansas Food Bank (4301 W. 65th Street, Little Rock, AR, 72209). Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com

" Those we love don't go away; they walk beside us every day. Unseen, unheard but always near. Still loved, still missed and always dear.”