Archive - Dec 26, 2011
Not many servicemen or women have the distinction of serving in two branches of the armed services within a 48-hour period.
The late Jack Seabloom had such an opportunity.
One morning in 1946, Seabloom was called in for a special mission. His superiors dismissed him from the Army with an honorable discharge and, minutes later, inducted him into the U.S. Coast Guard.
"There was a ship that was just moving in circles. Apparently, the crew had fallen asleep. It had gotten turned around and almost collided. They wanted him to go wake (the crew) up, " said his wife, Michelle Seabloom.
LaDonna McCormack had hoped to have a new heart by Christmas.
She didn't get it, but she got the next best thing: a tiny heart pump that is literally saving her life every day.
The Heart Mate II LVAD, or left ventricle assist device, was implanted just beneath her heart a few months ago. Though McCormack's lifestyle has been modified as a result, she faces the future with optimism and gratitude for the additional years this modern medical miracle is giving her.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 20, 1996, Oklahoma University ballerina Juli Busken disappeared from her apartment complex in east Norman.
A man she had never met made certain she would never return to her temporary home nor to her family home in Benton. Her body was found about 12 hours later on the shores of Lake Stanley Draper in Oklahoma City, where she had been bound, raped and shot to death.
Charles Nathan Garrett, age 82, of Springdale, passed away Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. He was born in Saline County, Arkansas on Feb. 15 in the year 1929.Â
Nathan was the firstborn child of Charles Dewey and Alberta Johnson Garrett.Â
 He loved hunting and fishing and was an instructor for hunter safety with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.Â
After retiring from the Arkansas Highway Department in 1987, Nathan became active in “Campers on Mission” and Arkansas Disaster Relief. He was a longtime member of Life Line Baptist Church in Little Rocks.Â
Linda Darlene Woods, age 65, of Bauxite passed away Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2011. She was born Aug. 7, 1946 in Bonham, Texas, to Sam E. Cockrill and Violet Lorene Cockrill.
Mrs. Woods was a physician’s assistant and a member of Trinity Baptist Church in Benton.
