Gloria Jene Stephens Dumas, 91, of Magnolia (formerly of El Dorado), died Saturday, September 15, at Dudneywood Assisted Living in Magnolia, AR.
Jene was born in El Dorado to Joshua Noble Stephens and May Day Cochran Stephens July 26, 1927. She received her elementary and secondary education in Sikeston, Missouri. She acquired a BS with a Minor in Math from SAU in Magnolia, a Masters from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, and a Doctorate in Education from Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe. She was a member of the Alpha Phi Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma where she served one term as President. She was also a member of the Southern Arkansas Chapter of Phi Delta Kappa and Union County Retired Teachers.
She had twins and a son a year older, and chose to remain home with her children until they started to school. She then began teaching third and fourth grade at Wyatt School where she taught all three of her children the same year. When Wyatt School closed she taught third grade at West Woods School until Principal Miriam Harris retired. At that time she stepped in to become principal and continued in that position until she retired.
She and her husband, Durell, were extremely involved at Wyatt Baptist Church since joining in March of 1953. She was a Sunday School teacher in the primary department while her children were young. When they graduated from that department, she taught the Dorcas Class until she was no longer able to serve in any capacity. She and her husband were both very active members of Gideons International who distribute God’s Word. They traveled the United States, sometimes with three grandchildren in tow, to attend the Gideons International Conventions held each July.
Preceding her in death were her parents, her husband of sixty years (D. D. Dumas), and a sister (Betty Jerry). She is survived by three children: Donah Durell Dumas II (Pat) and twins Stephen Lane Dumas and Stephenie Jane Dumas Gleghorn (Kyle); four grandchildren: Jennifer Day Dumas Mc Elroy, Andria May Gleghorn, Joshua Daniel Dumas, and Christian Daniel Dumas; three great grandchildren: Taylor and Hannah McElroy, and Phineas Dumas; a sister Kathryn Pace, and several nieces and nephews.
The service will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, September 18, at Wyatt Baptist Church, Josh Bullock and Donny Hymer officiating. Interment will follow at Hepzibah Baptist Church Cemetery, 22030 Highway 98, Emerson, Arkansas under the direction of Young’s Funeral Directors.
Maxwell Adams and the Deacons of Wyatt Baptist Church will serve as Honorary Pallbearers. Active Pallbearers are: John Dumas, Jerry Fairris, Robert McHenry, Stan Owens, Jimmy Wilson, and Bill Yutzy.
Special honors are sent to the residents of Dudneywood who are part of our extended family. We appreciate your compassion and prayers for mother through the last seven years. Thanks also to those special members of the staff at Dudneywood who have genuinely loved, tenderly cared for, and respected mother from a heart full of love that could only come from the Spirit of the Living God. We are thankful as well for Sylvia Welch and Ann Faulks with Encompass Home Health Hospice for their expertise, empathy, and compassion for mother during her transition from earth to heaven.
An online registry will be available at www.youngsfuneralhome.com