Biography: Marcia Collier Dees, a Little Rock homemaker devoted to multiple generations of her family and a longtime volunteer in school, civic and church activities, died Tuesday, September 29, 2009, of pneumonia at Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Little Rock. She was 98. Children of Mrs. Dees were enrolled in Little Rock public schools for 35 consecutive years, from 1939 to 1974. During that time, she served as president of the Lee Elementary School PTA, and was active in various parent and booster groups at schools including Lee, Forest Park, Pulaski Heights and Brady elementaries, Westside, Pulaski Heights and Henderson junior highs, and Central and Hall senior highs. She was a member of the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools, the first group to publicly condemn the closing of Little Rock's high schools in the fall of 1958. Mrs. Dees was known for her faithful and selfless contributions to many service organizations. She was a frequent volunteer with the Girl Scouts of America, leading a Brownie troop for many years, as well as the American Red Cross bloodmobile, the Stewpot kitchen at First Presbyterian Church, American Cancer Society fund-raising drives and Presbyterian Village. She served as a deacon at Second Presbyterian Church. She was a past president of the Women of the Church at Central Presbyterian Church and Second Presbyterian Church, where she was made an honorary lifetime member of the organization. She taught kindergarten classes for a combined 25 years at the two churches. As a mother, grandmother, leader and teacher, she loved, guided, played with and provided for generations of children. She was an avid sports fan, especially of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, and had a soft spot in her heart for underdogs in any endeavor, athletic or otherwise. She also had a passion for reading, was fascinated by the meaning and origin of words, and possessed a deep appreciation of good music. She loved animals, and in the 1960s and ‘70s worked at Taegel Pet Clinic in Little Rock. Mrs. Dees was born Marcia Ella Quenelle September 14, 1911, in Lenoir City, Tenn., to Frederick Wilford Quenelle and Belle Rumage Quenelle. She was named by her grandfather Moses Demus Quenelle, a Civil War veteran, in honor of his late first wife, Marcia, and his second wife, Ella. Orphaned at age 3, she was adopted by Lawson Jelks Collier and Nettie Mae Higgins Collier of Lenoir City. After Mr. Collier died when she was 8 years old, Mrs. Dees spent the remainder of her formative years living with various family members in Georgia, Kansas and northwest Arkansas, where she graduated from West Fork High School. She attended nursing school at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where she met her future husband. She married Ben Woodall Dees on June 6, 1931, in Bentonville, and the couple moved to Little Rock in 1935. At the time of his death in 1962, Mr. Dees, a civil engineer, was a partner in Ginnochio, Cromwell, Carter, Dees & Neyland, now known as the Cromwell Firm. Also preceding her in death were a half-brother, Frederick W. Quenelle, Jr., a half-sister, Lola Quenelle Breen, two grandsons, David Eldon Breshears, Jr. and Jonathan Collier Lovett, and a great-grandson, John Bradley Witherspoon, Jr. She is survived by five daughters, Nodya Lambert of Little Rock, Fredonia Witherspoon (Gayland) of Greenville, S.C., Sandra Breshears of Pine Bluff; Mozella Flucht (Elmer) of Maumelle, and Jane Lovett Holt (Jack) of Little Rock; and a son, David Dees (Sherri) of Crystal Lake, Ill. Survivors also include a granddaughter, Marcia Miller Bogart of Fayetteville; and nine grandsons, Roy Bullard and Forest Lovett, both of Little Rock; Ben Miller of Paron; John Witherspoon of Mayflower; Barry Witherspoon of Greenville, S.C.; Hunter Breshears of Bentonville; Broek Breshears of Rogers; Ben Dees of Pearland, Texas; and Lawson Dees of Crystal Lake, Ill. Survivors also include 19 great-grandchildren: Jessica Bogart and Ellen Bogart, both of Fayetteville; Claire Bogart of Fraser, Col.; Carmen Bullard Stewart and Sallie Witherspoon, both of Little Rock; Leah Bullard Sheridan of Athens, Georgia; Brooks Witherspoon of Wichita, Kan.; Jason Miller of Bryant; Joshua Miller of Benton; Gavin Witherspoon and Ashley Witherspoon, both of Greenville, S.C.; Victoria Breshears of Waverly, Iowa; Elizabeth Breshears, Houston David Breshears, Benjamin Breshears, William Breshears and Juliana Breshears, all of Ames, Iowa; and Drake Breshears and Ashton Breshears, both of Rogers; and three great-great-grandchildren, Jackson Stewart of Little Rock; and Ben Miller and Andi Kate Miller, both of Benton. Survivors also include a niece, Melinda Frew of Houston, Texas; and two nephews, John Frew of Wentzville, Missouri, and Willard Kincaid of Pocahontas. A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 3 at Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Drive, Little Rock, 72227. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Second Presbyterian Church or the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 W. Markham St., #623, Little Rock, AR 72205. Arrangements by Ruebel Funeral Home, www.ruebelfuneralhome.com.