Mary Belle Huggins

Mary (or Mar’Belle as she is known to her family) was born in Paragould, Arkansas.  She was the first of six children of Monzel and Lora Huggins.  She took the role of older sibling seriously.  She took care of all her sisters and brother as much as they would let her for all of her life, bringing new clothes at the start of the school year and also making sure her parents had what they needed.  A tough competitor and a hard worker, she was the epitome of how to be honorable, compassionate, giving and steadfast.   With her sister Marie, she took off to the big city of Memphis to make her way to a better life.  Farming was not her calling.  She became a nurse in the VA hospital and worked there until her retirement at 55.  She was an intensive care nurse and was given the opportunity to be head nurse several times, but she refused.  She also joined the Army Reserve Nurse Corp where she rose to the rank of Colonel.   This was an accomplishment that she downplayed whenever it was mentioned, but her family knew that it was quite an honor and achievement. 

She loved animals.  She had numerous dogs and cats over the years as well as several horses – which she would feed and pet more than ride.  There was no such thing as a stray cat in her book.  She would leave food out for them if she saw one come through her neighborhood, especially if they looked like they needed a good meal.  Mary never married and had children, but her animals (and yours) were her children and she protected them in all the ways she could. 

Always a strong person, she hated that when she got older she needed to rely on other people.  She was able to live at her home until the last couple of months of her life, when she gave up and stayed with her sister Marie’s.  Even then she tried to take care of everyone in the home.

She is preceded in death by her parents, James Monzel Huggins and Lora South Huggins; her sister, Betty Jo Stepp; her brother, James Monzel Huggins Jr(Sherie Huggins), her nephew, Louis Stepp, Jr. who she cared for after the death of Betty Jo Stepp.

She is survived by sisters  Marie Kee(Willie Kee), Linda Whittaker(Leon Whittaker), and Diane Berry(Dave Berry);  Children of Marie, Stephen Kee and Richard Kee (she often said she was their second mother); children of James (Jimmy), Brad Huggins,  Chris Huggins, and Debbie Collins; son of Diane, Lee Cockrell; and numerous great nieces and nephews.

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