To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Arkansas Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Arkansas, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 1/19/11 • Approved: 4/23/13 • Last Updated: 4/26/13 • R449833-G0-S3
November 26, 1933 - March 31, 2009
*Obituary
The Morning News of Northwest Arkansas
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
SPRINGDALE — Rosita Smart was born Nov. 26, 1933, in El Paso, Texas, and was adopted by Luis R. Varela and Esther Keller.
Rosita grew up in El Paso and frequently spent time in Mexico with her paternal adoptive grandmother. She believed her natural father to be of Jewish decent and her mother's heritage to be Mexican. Her adoptive mother Esther, was Cherokee American Indian and her adoptive father was Mexican American. Rosita's multicultural and bilingual upbringing was always seen as an opportunity, and she never missed the chance to use her Spanish and help those in need of assistance through her translation skills.
She grew up in El Paso and Houston, Texas, and Decatur and Fayetteville. She graduated from high school in Decatur and was a member of the school drill team. After graduation, she attended the University of Arkansas and assisted her mother in the family business, a woman's clothing store known as the Campus Clothing Shop on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. The shop was eventually sold to Campbell-Bell Department Store.
While attending the University of Arkansas, Rosita was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha sorority and met her future husband, Jimmy Lyon of Rogers. Jimmy joined the U.S. Air Force after graduating from the UA. Rosita and Jimmy soon would have a family of three small children (Liana, Dana and Jim) who would join them in their world travels that included Air Force life in Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Minnesota, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and overseas in Morocco, North Africa and Frankfurt, Germany.
After returning to Arkansas, Rosita would eventually transition her life to one centered around social work. Rosita was a licensed social worker in Northwest Arkansas for years. She made many contributions to our community as a social worker at Bentonville Manor and Apple Tree Inn nursing homes as well as the Economic Opportunity Agency (EOA) and Office of Human Concern.
She worked with the Project For Self-Determination, helping individuals to become self-sufficient and most recently with Hispanics through the Multicultural Center of Northwest Arkansas. She was instrumental in helping establish several Hispanic businesses in the area.
Rosita is survived by her daughter, Liana Bloodworth of Daytona Beach, Fla.; her son, Dana Lyon of Tontitown; and her son, Jim Lyon of Rogers.
A memorial service will be held at 3 p.m. Friday at Memorial Funeral Home in Springdale with Pastor Bill Pettigrew officiating.
Cremation arrangements are by Memorial Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made to www.memfuneral.com.
Contributed on 1/19/11 by nailgal123
Email This Contributor
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 449833