Obituaries

Elva Ellen Douthat

Elva Ellen Douthat, 95, of Bella Vista, Ark., died Tuesday, Dec.17, 2013, at her home in Bella Vista. She was born on Nov. 27, 1918, in Newkirk, Okla., to Roy Pratt and Esther (Towell) Pratt. She was raised and educated in Kansas and graduated from Valley Falls High School. She married Robert Manuel in 1938 in Lawrence, Kan. She attended Kansas University and the University of Chicago. She graduated from Columbia University in New York City and Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She received her master's degrees from University of South Dakota at Vermillion, S.D., and University of Arkansas. She was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1973 and served four churches in Nebraska. Robert Manuel died in 1973. She retired and moved to Bella Vista in 1981. Elva married Richard Douthat in 1987. Richard died in April 1999. She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Millard, Omer, Kenneth and Gerald Pratt; and sisters, Evalyn Pratt and Veryl Reichart. She is survived by one son, Lawrence Robert Manuel of California; three daughters, Janice Manuel of Bella Vista, Ark., Anita Manuel of Seattle, Wash., Helen Motter and husband, Gregory, of Bowling Green, Ky.; seven grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and 13 nieces and nephews. A Mass of the Resurrection will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, at St. Bernard Catholic Church. Arrangements are by the Bella Vista Funeral Home & Crematory, 2258 Forest Hills Blvd., Bella Vista, Ark. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Bernard Catholic Church, One St. Bernard Lane, Bella Vista, AR 72715.

Published December 20, 2013

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