SHERIDAN — Bobby Gene Jeffrey,

entered Heaven on August 26, 2021, following 87 years of a productive and faithful life on Earth. He was the wonderful husband to Helen and father to sons, David, Robert Neal, and Bill Jeffrey. Born the sixth child of Stonie and Euna Jeffrey on May 16, 1934, in Locust Grove, Arkansas. Bobby early learned the value of hard work by hoeing and picking in his father’s cotton fields alongside his siblings and other relatives. By age 12 he was operating a tractor after the mules were no longer used for plowing. A 1951 graduate of Desha High School, Bobby earned a degree in forestry from Arkansas A&M in 1955. That same year Bobby married his true love, Helen Herring of Monticello and the couple would share almost 60 years of life together until Helen’s passing in February 2015.

After a brief period in Cleveland, Texas, working for Kirby Lumber Company, Bobby accepted a position with International Paper in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1956, beginning a 40 year career with the company that was interrupted only by a two-year stint in the U.S. Army at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, from 1957 to 1959. In February 1959, IP assigned Bobby to Sheridan where he and Helen became active members in the community and as members of First Baptist Church. In 1966, Bobby was transferred to El Dorado, and then to Camden, in 1967 where he advanced in management of company timberlands. In 1980 IP promoted Bobby to manager of the 200,000 acre Sheridan timberlands operations, a position he held until his retirement in 1995.

In his early years in Sheridan Bobby was an active member in the Lions Club and later in Camden once served on the Camden Fairview School Board and later served on the Grant County School Board and the Alumni Board of Directors of the University of Arkansas at Monticello. He also enjoyed managing a small cattle herd until he and Helen sold their “spread” in 2000 and moved to town. Bobby was a cofounder of Peoples Bank of Sheridan in 2000 and was always proud of the institution’s success and of the management team that made it happen. He served on the bank’s board of directors for 19 years.

The last six years of life was at times lonely without Helen, but Bobby continued to devote himself to his family and was always available if any of them needed his wise counsel and help. He became active once again at First Baptist Church where he renewed old friendships and fostered new ones and participated in the Blessings House ministry until his health began to decline and mostly confined him to his home. He battled cancer and heart problems for the last 20 years of his life but was joyful to the end.

In addition to his three sons, Bobby is survived by three daughters-in-laws: Lona (David), Debbie (Robert Neal) and Wendy (Bill), four grandchildren : Sarah (Tanner) Atwood, Harry (Aubree), Andy, Lacey and two step-grandchildren, Rene (Allen) Thomas and John (Tifney) Gaines; two sisters, Jolene Thorn and Mary Alice Southard of Batesville and 13 nieces and nephews and their offspring. He was pre-deceased by one sister, Juanita and two brothers, Forrest and Wayne Jeffrey.

Funeral service will be 3 p.m., Monday, at First Baptist Church in Sheridan. Visitation will be 2 p.m., until service time. Burial will be at Philadelphia Cemetery in Prattsville. Memorials may be made to The Blessings House of First Baptist Church, 1201 South Rock, Sheridan, Ark., 72150. Arrangements by Memorial Gardens Funeral Home of Sheridan, 870-942-1306.