Mildred R. Montaque

The stone-pony has gone to glory. Mrs. Mildred R. Montaque, age 97, passed away of natural causes at her home Monday morning, April 4th. She was born Sept. 15, 1918 at Lansing, Ark., the daughter of William G. Huxtable and Porter Lofton Smith. She received a diploma from Mananses High School, Memphis and a Bachelor's Teaching Certificate from Mississippi Industrial College, Holly Springs, Miss. She taught elementary school, mostly 5th-grade for 42 years in the West Memphis, Arkansas area. She was very dedicated to student learning as a classroom teacher, rarely missing a day of work, and prided herself in treating all students equal and fairly. Mrs. Montaque was very active in her community wherever she lived. She served on several boards in West Memphis including Sheltered Workshop, CrimeStoppers, Community Housing Resources Board. In Fayetteville, she was an active volunteer with Meals-on-Wheels for the Senior Center and St. James Church Community Outreach Project. Memberships included a Lifetime Member of the NAACP, National Education Association, Crittenden County and Washington County Retired Teachers Association. She was quite proud of starting a high school student-scholarship fund of Crittenden County Ret. Teachers Assn., where she supported giving the scholarship to struggling ‘C' students who received less attention than ‘A' students. She was one of the Founders of Stewart Temple C.M.E. (Colored Methodist Episcopal)Church in 1951 at West Memphis, attending faithfully every Sunday until her move in 1994 to Fayetteville where she became a member of St. James United Methodist Church. She enjoyed learning and travelling to church conferences over the country. Going to baseball games and watching ‘Jeopardy' were her favorite pastimes. Mrs. Montaque was preceded in death by her brother, Henry Otis Smith and her first son, Ansell Otis Russell. She leaves 2 daughters and 2 sons: T. Faye Higgins of Little Rock, Porter Montaque of Fayetteville, Thaddeus Montaque of Greensboro, N.C., Dr. Freeman (Jasmine) Montaque of Acworth, Ga.; a daughter-in-law, Corneilia C. Montaque of Greensboro, N.C.; sons-in-law, Joe Higgins of Little Rock and A. Jimmi Ebe of Fayetteville; 14 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Visitation will be 5 p.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday April 12 at Moore's Chapel. Funeral Service will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at St. James Methodist Church under the direction of Moore's Chapel Funeral Home, 206 West Center Street, Fayetteville, Ark. 72701. To sign the online guest book visit www.mooresfuneralchapel.com.