Peggy Sue Hall Yarbrough

Peggy Sue Hall Yarbrough of Humphrey AR passed away at home August 30, 2025, at the age of 89 after a long battle with kidney disease. She was born on July 25, 1936, to parents Oma Ables Hall and Harvin Hall in Humphrey. She married Jimmy Neal Yarbrough on July 4, 1957, and they were married until his death in 2022. Besides her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by a brother, Toby Hall. Survivors are her son, Jimmy C. Yarbrough and wife Sherry of Hot Springs; her daughters, Linda Tull and Shelia Siems and husband Rick; all of Stuttgart; four sisters, Carolyn Ward of Clarendon, Marilyn Reynolds of Stuttgart, Betty Paul of Indianapolis and Eleanor Stewart of Humphrey; three grandchildren, Paul Siems, Adam Siems and Shawn Tull; 13 great-grandchildren, Elbin Bland (Lindsey) Parker Bland, Jacob Bland (Phoebe), Madison Siems, Tripp Siems, Paxton Siems, Wran Tull, Whitney Tull, Regan Tull, Dylan Siems, Haylee Siems, Remy Siems and Elizah Siems; and four great-great-grandchildren, Arthur Bland, Lily McGhee, Xander Alexander and Violet Marsh.

If Peggy’s life had to be summed up in four words, they would be “Faith, Family, Food, and Flowers.” Plants were her passion. Even the artificial kind. Beautiful ferns and many plants of all varieties flourished under her care throughout her entire yard all summer long. In the winter she brought her favorites inside the house, and the rest were stored in a large, heated greenhouse that her husband built for them. She thought the yard looked “sad and naked” without them. She took pride in a manicured and clean yard. She loved to ride her lawn mower and would report down to the minute what time she got on it and off it. She kept a tidy house. Everything in her house had to be in its place and perfect at all times or she wasn’t content. She’d say, “Everything at home needs to stay tidy cos you never who might stop by.” She dreaded the possible day that someone would see her house dirty. She kept homemade cookies on hand for those expected and unexpected guests. No one ever left her house hungry. Peggy loved to cook and cooked weekly at the First Baptist Church in Stuttgart for 18 years. She showed her love with food, and she was great cook. A collector of cookbooks, she read them like some would read a novel.

Peggy loved all children. She enjoyed hearing them laugh and play and envied their carefree innocence. She kept a toy collection at her house handy for tiny visitors. Those who came regularly knew exactly where she kept the toys and they would rush to those spots upon arrival. She was very inquisitive about your life. She expected lots of detailed answers to her many questions. If you asked “her” what she had been doing, she would respond with an outline of her day by the minute. Then she’d expect a similar report from you. If you weren’t willingly forthcoming with plenty of information, you’d better be ready for plenty of questions. Many of those questions weren’t any of her business, but she asked anyway.

She knew everyone’s birthday. You always got a card or a phone call on that day. Sometimes both. She made your favorite desert for your birthday, special occasion, or for no reason at all and delivered it to you in her one of her “good dishes.” Before leaving, she reminded you that she needed that dish back.

Peggy was a farmer’s daughter and farmer’s wife. She lived her entire life in the Alcorn community with the exception of two years between second and fourth grade, when her father moved the family to North Little Rock, where he found work in a broom factory in order to save money to start the family farm. She attended the Alcorn Rural School until 1949, when students transferred to Humphrey School after consolidation.

She was a homemaker, and she took it seriously. In her younger years she was an excellent seamstress and handmade a lot of her girl’s clothing and decorative items for the home. For years she was a member of the Arkansas County Extension Homemakers Club. It consisted of many homemakers in the community. They met monthly at a member’s home to encourage each other, share ideas, exchange recipes, and plan community service. Such as working at the county fair. She began working at all the Arkansas County elections as soon as she was voting age and did so until voting machines. In her own words, “I started way back. Everyone went to at my Aunt Ola Mae’s country store to vote and we had to “hand count” all the ballots!”

Together with her husband, she was also a gardener and loved to cook and can their produce. They faithfully grew and prepared the vegetables each year for the farmers market and for many loyal customers that would eagerly come to their home for purchases during harvest. Only the most beautiful vegetables harvested were worthy of market and her canning. She insisted the family could “eat the ugly stuff.” She enjoyed watching cooking shows, Hallmark movies and game shows. She enjoyed listening to gospel music while she did housework and singing hymns at church.

Peggy despised taking medicine and only liked a doctor’s appointment if it meant she could swing by Walmart or a dollar store when it was over. She was very frugal and obsessed with saving money. When shopping she knew exactly which store had her favorite items priced for less and she really fancied a bargain from a yard sale. She never walked past a lost penny in a parking lot without picking it up. Afterwards she would say, ‘Pennies add up, ya know!”

Family was vitally important to her. She planned and looked forward to monthly “birthday dinners” and holiday gatherings at her house. The holiday and/or anyone with a birthday during each month was celebrated. She made each person having a birthday their favorite dessert and made sure they got to go first in line at a buffet of food mostly prepared by her. All family members were required to attend or have a very good excuse. Picture taking was mandatory. Albums upon albums of photographs at her house prove it. She and her husband tried hard to make these gatherings special for all. Friends often attended. Friends and community were very important to each of them. Each were always eager to do a favor or lend a helping hand, no matter what the chore. Over the years, they attended countless funerals and celebrations. Peggy would always contribute a dish of home-cooked food or dessert. Fiercely independent, they both preferred being the one giving the help, not receiving it.

Peggy would want to be remembered by the pride and thankfulness she had for her family, all the worldly things that God blessed her with and how hard she worked to care for them. Also, for how much she loved her family. She loved her mother, father and grandparents and honored them until their deaths. She loved her brother and younger sisters and helped care for them while growing up. She loved her nieces and nephews dearly and very much enjoyed spending time with them, especially when they were young. She loved her children and grandchildren. She adored all her great- and great-great- grandchildren and worried that the young ones wouldn’t remember her. She always made it a point to tell you that she loved you.

Peggy was a lifetime member of Corinth Baptist Church at Humphrey and was baptized nearby in Bayou Meto at a young age. To “Offer Thanks” as she put it, before each meal was a must. Bedtime prayers for her family, friends and church were a ritual. She always kept a daily journal and recorded each day’s events, accomplishments, weather conditions and a list of the names of the people she encountered that day. The last day she was able to write in the journal was April 11, 2025. She spoke often of her family members who had gone before her and felt it was important to keep their memory alive. She is praising and rejoicing with them now.

Visitation will be 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 2, at Corinth Baptist Church with a funeral service to follow at 2 p.m. Burial will be in Frazier Cemetery by Turpin Funeral Home of Stuttgart.

In lieu of flowers, the family ask that memorials be made to Frazier Cemetery Association, %Rickey Yarbrough, 80 SWL Rd., Humphrey, Ark. 72073.