Carletta Jo Saunders, age 86

Carletta Jo Saunders

March 3, 1937 – December 20, 2023

Little Red River

Carletta Jo Saunders, age 86, died on Wednesday, Dec 20, 2023, at her home on the Little Red River.  She was born on March 3, 1937, in Bald Knob, Arkansas.

She was an elementary school teacher for 30 years in Russell, Searcy and Bald Knob, retiring in 2000.

Education was extremely important to her. Carletta was class president her Junior year, writer on the school newspaper and valedictorian in her 1955 class at Bald Knob High School.  First in her family to go to college, she received a BA in Journalism and Art from Arkansas State Teachers College in Conway.

She loved art, theater, writing, antiques, fossils and all animals.  In retirement, she spent many hours digging in the dirt on the Little Red looking for arrowheads and collecting thousands of rocks.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Virginia and Carl Carter of Bald Knob.  Carletta is survived by her husband of 65 years, James Paul Saunders; her sister, Judy Caroline and Charles Edwards of Pine Bluff, one niece, Leigh Anne Edwards and one Nephew, Jeffrey Edwards; her 2 children: Deborah Denise Grace and husband Danny of Conway, Stephen Paul Saunders and fiancé Ginger Cooper of Searcy and; her 2 grandchildren, Allie Brianne and Nicholas Stephen Saunders of Searcy and Colonel the pony, of the Little Red.

A private memorial service will be planned after the holidays.  In lieu of flowers, please donate to the White County Humane Society, 112 West Johnson Road, Searcy, AR 72143, or to your favorite charity.

Arrangements have been entrusted to A Natural State Funeral Service. 2620 West Main Street,Jacksonville, Arkansas, 72076. 501-982-3400. www.anaturalstatefuneralservice.com