Gertrude Frankie Rice

Gertrude Frankie Rice, of Houston, Arkansas, transitioned from life on earth to eternal life in Heaven on July 3, 2024. She was born on October 20, 1921 in a log cabin on the banks of the Arkansas River in the Perry County community of Stony Point. She accepted Christ as her Savior at age 11. She had a brilliant mind and a hunger to constantly be reading and learning new things. She was a bird watcher and found delight in all of the beauties of nature. She loved to sing and also played the piano and accordion. Gertrude had an independent and adventurous spirit. She bravely left home in 1948 to spend the next two years in Petersburg, Alaska working in a fish cannery to support herself while helping missionaries build a church and work with the native people. She worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Little Rock and then transferred in 1956 to Pacific Telephone Company in California where she remained until she retired in 1972. She was first located in Los Angeles and then transferred to San Diego for the remainder of her career. She loved to travel and explore new places. She fulfilled her dream of visiting all 50 States of the Union. She willingly abandoned her career and life of adventures to come home to Perry County in 1972, due to the declining health of her parents. She spent many years devoted to lovingly providing care for her parents, and then for her sister Glola, at the family homestead in Houston. She remained very active in her church and the community until she moved to StoneBridge Assisted Living in Conway in 2020. Gertrude was preceded in death by her parents, Frank B. and Zelma Thomas Rice; brothers, Norman Lee Rice and Frank B. Rice, Jr; sisters, Ola Violet Rice and Glola Christine Rice. She is survived by two nephews, Dewaine Rice (Cheryl) and Randall Rice; one niece, Evonne Rice (John); and their children and grandchildren. The family is deeply grateful for the excellent and compassionate care provided during the final months of Gertrude's life by the wonderful people at Serenity Senior Living in Vilonia and at Gentiva Hospice. Funeral services will be 2:00 PM on Monday, July 8, 2024, at Harris Funeral Home Chapel with Bro. John Chapman and Chaplain Joe Gordon officiating. A private burial will be at May Cemetery in Houston, Arkansas. Visitation will be one hour prior to service time at the funeral home.

Gertrude Frankie Rice

October 20, 1921 - July 3, 2024