Elvie M. Raper

On Monday, Feb. 13, 2023, Elvie Mae Raper passed away unexpectedly at the age of 72 in her Hot Springs home.

She was born on Nov. 27, 1950, in El Dorado, Ark., the oldest daughter of Dewey Elvin and Winnie Bell Kegley.

Elvie graduated from Smackover High School and continued her education as an X-ray technician, which she worked at for over 50 years, initially in El Dorado, Ark., and then later in Hot Springs, where she retired in 2020. Devoted to her profession, Elvie was awarded the Service Hero Award for Extraordinary Service in 2016 by CHI St. Vincent’s hospital.

Elvie was kind-hearted, loving and incredibly generous, always thinking of others before herself throughout her life. She was obsessed with family history and ancestry. She loved a good Ding-dong cake from the Daily Dish, because she was admittedly not a cook. Elvie loved to laugh and in her younger years was quite a practical joker.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Kenneth “Tookie” Raper; and survived by her sister, Alene Meacham of Hot Springs; her brother, James Kegley and his wife, Dianne, of Strong, Ark.; her stepdaughters, Kim Parks of Hot Springs and Joannie Miller of Fort Smith. Other surviving family members include Wendy and Todd Bain of Strong, Ark., Darren and Allie Michael of Clarksville, Tenn., and Kyle and Amber Michael of El Dorado, Ark. She was known and loved as Aunt Elvie by many grandnieces and grandnephews, all of whom she absolutely adored.

A memorial service will be held at Caruth-hale Funeral Home at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 18, with a visitation preceding at 1 p.m.

Online condolences at http://www.caruth-hale.com.