SARAH L. KINARD

Sarah Lou Powell Kinard passed from this life to her eternal home with God through Christ Jesus, her Lord and Savior since the age of twelve, on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2018.

Sarah was born Dec. 28, 1935, three miles north of Junction City, in her childhood home. She is preceded in death by her mother Effie Inell Amason Powell, her father, Diamond Dewey Powell, her first husband, Robert Larry Moses, her second husband, Curtis Wayne Kinard, her former sister-in-law, Sue Moses Freeman, and her niece, Jan Powell Sweet.

Surviving her are her loving daughters, Karen Kinard Robertson (Mike), Jennifer Kinard Wylie (Phil), and Juliane Kinard Mathews; her grandchildren, Charles Justin Bray (Kirby), Sarah Jordan Bray, Richard Curtis Gilbert, May Olivia Wylie, Samantha Jo Schumacher, John Kinard Wylie, Samuel James Wylie, and Billy Lucas Robertson; and her great grandson, Kaelon Micah Gilreath.

She is also survived by her brother and sister-in-law, Thomas “Tommy” Dewey and Charlotte Powell, who still live in the home on the Junction City Highway in which she and Tommy were born and raised, and their adult children Pamela Powell McGowan (Jackie) and Jay Powell (Melissa) and their families; as well as her former sisters-in-law, Jan Lawson (Roger) and her children, and Judy Moses; and many extended family members and friends whom she loved like family.

Sarah grew up of meager means on a ten acre farm and has recollections of picking cotton, shelling peas, plowing for potatoes and plucking chickens (her least favorite thing). There was no television in the home, just an all-important radio and many books, as she loved to read. Because her parents sacrificed and made sure she and her brother had everything they needed, she learned to appreciate and to be content with whatever she had.

Sarah attended Junction City High School and was voted “Best All-Around” and “Most Likely to Succeed.” She played basketball for six years, was voted Homecoming Queen in her junior year, and was the 1953 class Valedictorian.

After high school, Sarah participated in a 2-year course at Louisiana Tech University called Secretarial Science where she learned typing, shorthand, accounting, economics, filing, and many other important business concepts and techniques. She married Larry Moses in 1955 and together they had Karen. Larry died less than one month after Karen’s birth in a plane crash while flying in from an off shore job with Mobil Oil Company, leaving Sarah a young widow with a newborn.

She and Karen spent the next two years in Hope, Arkansas living with Larry’s parents, Perry and Marietta Moses. She served as the church secretary at First Baptist Church in Hope during that time and eventually relocated to Arkadelphia, Arkansas where her father-in-law built a home for her and Karen and where she finished her business degree at Ouachita Baptist University.

After graduating from OBU, Sarah and Karen made their home in El Dorado, where Sarah met and became fast friends with Polly Kinard. It wasn’t long after this that she met the next and last love of her life, Polly’s son, Curtis Wayne. She wrote in a journal that what attracted her the most to Curtis were his qualities as a gentleman, his appearance, and his integrity. (She joked that she also liked his black Cadillac). They married in 1967 and later added Jennifer and Julie to their family.

Sarah worked in accounting for Reese Head and later managed the office of the South Arkansas Eye Clinic for ten years before retiring. After Curtis’s death in 1995, she devoted her life to her family, to service to others, and to a daily walk with her Lord. She served on various governing Boards, coordinating councils, and committees including Simmons First Bank Board of Directors, Ouachita Baptist University: Hickingbotham School of Business Advisory Committee, the coordinating council of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship of Arkansas, HOPE Landing, Inc. Board of Directors, and the SHARE Foundation Scholarship Committee. She enjoyed teaching the 5-year old Sunday school class and the Ladies’ Parlor Sunday school class, playing hand bells, singing in the choir, and serving on various committees for many years at First Baptist Church in El Dorado.

Sarah had a kind, wise nature that carried her with dignity and class and blessed those who knew her. Psalm 116: 15 says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” So, although this is a sad time for all who love her, it is a precious time of rejoicing as well. Her family extends heartfelt love and appreciation to the staff at Life Touch Hospice for their sensitive and excellent care of Sarah over the past nine months and to her precious friends for their love and devotion.

A celebration of her life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 30 at First Baptist Church, El Dorado, 200 West Main with reception immediately following in the Christian Life Center. Burial will precede the service at 10:00 a.m. in Arlington Cemetery under the direction of Young’s Funeral Directors.

She will lie in state from 5 until 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, 2018 at Young’s.

Memorials may be given to any charitable organization that is meaningful to the donor; however, the family requests special attention be given to those organizations that were meaningful to Sarah, the one of most importance being First Baptist Church of El Dorado, 200 West Main, El Dorado, AR 71730. Specific scholarships are the Curtis A. Kinard Family Endowed Scholarship at Ouachita Baptist University and the Curtis and Sarah Kinard Memorial Scholarship with SHARE Foundation in El Dorado.

An online guest registry will be available at www.youngsfuneralhome.com.

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