Saying ‘Goodbye,’ as sadness comes to Ark. State House MAYLON RICE

The news broke late last week that State Rep. Sheilla Lampkin of Monticello was set to resign her seat due to chronic health reasons.

And then over the weekend came the saddest of news — as an outpouring of grief and sadness flooded the Lower Chamber of the Arkansas State Legislature, pouring over into the Upper Chamber of the Arkansas State Senate — Sheilla Lampkin had passed away at age 70 while a patient in Baptist Health Medical Center.

I count myself as a friend of Sheilla Lampkin.

She had legions of friends spread all over this state. Most of the people she regarded as her friends and those who needed her 30-plus years of public school teaching experience and her long political skills while in the Arkansas Legislature, however, can’t vote — they are the school children of Arkansas.

She was a champion when it came to programs involving kids, education and services to the downtrodden among us.

A native of the hardscrabble farming community of Rohwer (Desha County), Lampkin was born Aug. 23, 1945, in the post-World War II days to the late James Edward Ezelle and Lucille McIntyre Ezelle.

She was a proud graduate of the Desha Central School District, an ongoing combination of the tiny

school districts around the Rohwer/McGehee/Watson area back in the late 1960s.

She was proudly a retired school teacher of 30 years, having taught in the McGehee, Wilmar, Drew Central and Monticello School Districts, all in Southeast Arkansas.

She received her Master’s Degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, of which she was equally and privately proud of this continuing education accomplishment. She never stopped learning as her colleagues in the House can tell you. She had the gift to transform long, boring committee meetings and argu-

ments over minute funding of programs into learning experiences with her ability to apply usable statistics to the pages and pages of budget materials presented.

But it was her personal skills as a loving person that drew others in the Arkansas State House to her.

State Rep. Charlene Fite, R-Van Buren, who represents House District 80, clear across the state from Lampkin’s House District 9, had kind words to say about her fallen colleague and friend.

“In Little Rock, we often forget who is a Democrat and who is a Republican. Usually we are just folks working together to better the lives of everyday Arkansans,” said Fite. “With Sheilla Lampkin it was never about political party.”

Fite recalls Lampkin, “… was a tireless advocate for children, especially those with special needs.”

And more than just her legislative work, Lampkin will be remembered by others, Fite said.

“When I was sick, Sheilla called to check on me. When we traveled together to a conference, she made sure I got home okay. She was funny, cheerful, smart and caring. We will miss her.”

Another legislator, state Rep. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville recalled in a Facebook posting over the weekend his initial visit with a stranger named Sheilla Lampkin.

“Yesterday we lost a dear friend, colleague and a woman committed to children like no others I’ve known,” Leding wrote.

There was more to Sheilla

Lampkin than her political service.

She was a member of Second Baptist Church where she was a Sunday school teacher and a volunteer for any job in the church she could fill.

She was a tireless volunteer for numerous local charities and organizations.

I first met Sheilla at her husband’s work place at the Advance decades ago. I was a fledgling “printer’s devil,” for the "Warren Eagle Democrat" filling hoppers on the newspaper folder in the back shop, where Damon Lampkin ran the newspaper press.

I was overjoyed when she ran for State Representative and won. I am the recipient of several of her hand-written notes. One of importance to me was in answer to my letter castigating her for a vote on an issue I’ve long forgotten. I thought she had voted wrongly, but she wrote me back.

The note said. “While you may not agree with my vote. You are my friend. And friends will disagree.”

Someone in Heaven must have needed a friend.

Sheilla Lampkin will fill that need. While those of us left here on earth should struggle to do half of the things this lady did — right up until the end of her life last week.