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Submitted: 12/22/20 • Approved: 12/22/20 • Last Updated: 12/25/20 • R1357084-G0-S3
Jan 09, 1943-June 18, 2011
Dbl stone w/Eileen (Lowery) Madden
Mr. Norman E. Madden, Sr., 68, of the Remmel Community, outside Newport, died Saturday, June 18, 2011 at his home in Remmel, in an area known locally as Coon Island. He was born Jan. 9, 1943 in Cow Lake Community, Beedeville, the son of Roy E. and Lola Iris (McFadden) Madden.
Mr. Madden grew up with nine siblings in the Cow Lake Community, attending school in Beedeville. As a young man he was an avid basketball player, an award-winning pole vaulter, and he led his chapter of Future Farmers of America to a state championship in parliamentary procedure. He attended Harding College and Arkansas State College, receiving a BS degree in Agriculture specializing in engineering. He also completed two years of graduate work at the University of Arkansas before returning to Beedeville to farm with his family. A
self-employed farmer, he farmed alongside his brothers for 35 years. A duck hunter for years, Madden also raised and trained Labrador retrievers. Madden enjoyed going to auction sales and restoring old cars and farm equipment.
Active in county government and civic affairs, Madden served as a Justice of the Peace and member of the Jackson Country Quorum Court for 21 years, chairing the Budget Committee for the last four years. He was Jackson County’s representative on the Association of Arkansas Counties and Quorum Courts, a
75-member governing body, for which he served his last three terms on the 12-member executive board. As a Justice of the Peace, he officiated at 49 weddings. Madden was also a member of the North Central Arkansas District Council for Riceland Foods.
Madden was a member of the Beedeville Church of Christ, where he served as an elder. Much of the energy and passion of his life in recent years was focused on his work at the local prisons, where he touched many lives. Earlier this year, as he was drafting notes for his 50th high school class reunion, Madden
said that his most rewarding experience was serving as a volunteer at both prisons in Newport and working with the prison ministries, where he helped to baptize 159 women and 18 men. As he said, “I can tell some good stories about changed lives.” Madden worked diligently as chairman of the board seeking to
build a chapel at the McPherson women’s prison, which has raised over $100,000 toward the chapel construction.
Earlier this year he retired from farming, hoping, as he said, that he could enjoy his grandchildren more. Madden’s favorite Bible verse was Joshua 24:15, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve; . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
He was preceded in death by his father, Roy E. Madden on June 3, 1987; his mother, Lola Iris (McFadden) Madden on March 18, 1984; four brothers, Ralph E. Madden on Jan. 11, 2002, Dale Madden, Sr. on March 6, 2000, Joe E. Madden, Sr. on Sept. 29, 1995, and Harold Alton Madden, Sr. on Nov. 29, 1968; two sisters,
Etta Reid on Sept. 5, 1990 and Royslen Madden on June 24, 1934; one nephew, Roy Thomas on Sept 24, 1992; and one niece, Cherri Jean Madden King on Sept. 27, 2002.
Mr. Madden is survived by his wife of 49 years, Eileen (Lowery) Madden of Remmel; his children, Ed Madden of Columbia, SC, and Jeff and Raeann Hayes Madden of Jonesboro; three grandchildren, Dillon Madden, Kyle Madden, and Keely Eileen Madden of Jonesboro; three brothers, Stanley Madden, Kenneth Madden, and
Hervey Madden, all of Beedeville; and one sister, Elaine Thomas, also of Beedeville.
Friends may visit at Jackson’s Newport Funeral Home on Wednesday, June 22, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Thursday, June 23 at Beedeville Church of Christ, with Dr. Gary Elliott officiating, assisted by Rick Watson. Interment will be in Madden-Walker Cemetery in Cow Lake Community.
Those honored to serve as pallbearers will be Steve Reid; Harold Madden, Jr.; Mike Reid; Mitch Reid; Joe Madden, Jr.; Tony Madden; John Paul Madden; Kenneth Madden, Jr.; John Kevin Madden; Keith Madden; Danny Thomas, Jr.; Dale Madden, Jr.; and Mac Madden.
Honorary pallbearers will include elders and deacons from the Beedeville Church of Christ, Larry Dabbs, Wayne Foushee, Bart Gaskin, and Jim Peacock; members of the Jackson County Quorum Court; and Chad O'Dell, Jim Eskew, Ronnie Nance, Joey Rennicke, Alvin “Curly” Cheshier, Bob Penix, Alvin Mullins, and Jim Reynolds.
Obituary: Jackson Funeral Home, Newport, AR.
Contributed on 12/22/20 by paperdoll1913
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Record #: 1357084