MARIA MICHELLE FROST,
46, of Little Rock, died in her home April 5, 2022, after a medical emergency.
M iche l le was born June 13,1975, in Texarkana, Texas. She was raised by beloved mother Sally Green. She graduated from Texas High, where she was a member of the band and newspaper staff, in 1993. She excelled in writing, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in English, with honors, from UT-Austin.
After college, Michelle taught at the Texas School for the Blind. Colleagues recall her patience while helping students learn vocational skills so they could, as Michelle described, “live their best lives.”
Michelle moved to Little Rock in 2009 to work as a case coordinator for the Social Security Administration. She was promoted to adjudicator in 2018.
She was a voracious reader and music lover. She sang, played piano and guitar, and had long dreamed of recording music with friends in a project called The Harmonics. She recently realized that dream, recording an album called “Songs to Learn By.”
Michelle had an unparalleled memory. She could quote lines from countless books, movies and songs. She loved animals and devoted herself to befriending feral cats and spoiling her own house cats. She zealously followed the Texas Longhorns and Dallas Cowboys. She was proud of her green thumb and sent pictures of flowers in her yard to friends every spring.
Michelle strongly believed in social and environmental justice. As one friend described, “ideals of equality and inclusion were fundamental to her since she could toddle.”
Michelle was preceded in death by mother Sally, whom she deeply grieved, and cherished cat of 21 years, Emily. She is survived by brother, Bill Dorland; sister-in-law, Sarah Penniston-beloved niece, Kendall Dorland, of College Park, Md.; father, Connie Frost and wife Sue, of New Boston, Texas; several cousins, including special cousin Whitney Weiler, of Chicago; cats Sissy and Wolfie, and numerous friends who will deeply miss her and her infectious laugh.
Please consider donating to the Texas School for the Blind or to an animal charity in Michelle’s honor.