Kenneth L. Marler

Ken Marler, longtime resident of Northwest Arkansas, passed away at home Tuesday morning, July 29, 2014, at the age of 87. Born Lloyd Kenneth Marler on Feb. 25, 1927, in Hobart, Okla., he was the eldest of five children born to Orval (Buck) and Emily (Gertie) Marler. Ken moved to Arkansas in the 1950s, and lived in Gentry from the late '50s through the early '60s where he worked for Paul Suggs and was a volunteer fireman (which he greatly enjoyed). He was a brother of Gentry Masonic Lodge #222 and received a 50 Year Membership Award in 2012. In 1962, he was the seventh employee hired at Franklin Electric and moved to Siloam Springs in 1966. He retired from Franklin Electric in 1989 and moved to Gravette. He had a passion for buying, selling and trading anything and everything. He enjoyed meeting people and making friends of which he had many, many longtime friends. Loving father, brother, grandfather, great-grandfather and great-great-grandfather, he is sorely missed. Survivors include his sons, Mike Marler and wife, Debbie, of Bentonville, Lloyd (Kenny) Marler of Bradenton, Fla.; daughters, Karen Beyers of Siloam Springs and Kenda Miller of Ardmore, Okla.; brothers, Ray Marler and wife, Sandy, of Oklahoma City, Okla., Danny Marler and wife, Linda, of Noble, Okla.; sister, Rena Davis of Crockett, Texas; brother-in-law, Dennis Marshall of Hobart, Okla.; 16 grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; five great-great-grandchildren; and 10 stepchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; and a sister, Patsy Marshall of Hobart, Okla. Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1, 2014, at Callison-Lough Funeral Home, Bentonville. Funeral services will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday in the chapel of Callison-Lough Funeral Home, with burial to follow in Decatur Cemetery. Memorials, in lieu of flowers, may be made to the Gentry Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 970, Gentry, AR 72434. Arrangements are by Callison-Lough Funeral Home, 605 W. Central Ave., Bentonville. www.callisonlough.com.