Clive D. Blount of Floral passed away on Sunday, July 17, 2022. He was born October 5, 1934, to the late Shelby and Alice Blount. He retired from Southside School District after 32 years in 1989. He had a job he loved going to every day. He loved helping his students and the lives he touched. He attended Arkansas Teacher’s College (now the University of Central Arkansas) in Conway where he received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree. He received his Master’s Degree in Administration from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He was Elementary Principal and Junior High Principal at the same time.
He was High School Counselor for 12 years. After being a counselor he was High School Principal and then Administration Assistant before becoming High School Principal again. He started a physical education program for students at recess. In bad weather, he would take the students to the gym where Pee Wee Basketball was born. There were no Pee Wee teams anywhere besides Southside. At first, the Southside teams would play against each other because there were no other schools that had teams.
He was one of the first to departmentalize the upper and lower Elementary and Junior High at Southside. He took classes when receiving his degree as a counselor that made him eligible to conduct a psychological diagnosis. With that ability, it led Southside to set up one of the first Special Education Departments in the area. The program helped students who might otherwise drop out of school. He cared deeply for his students. When he first started counseling there was no organized plan for funding financial aid for prospective college students. He took students to the college and worked out a plan for their living and employment arrangements. At the time there were no vocational schools in the area or technical jobs. If you wanted a technical job you had to leave the state so he took tours of the plants at Batesville to see what jobs were available for his students. He was pleased to see students who had hard times be successful. He was on the White River Advisory Board for many years and is a current member of the Cedar Grove Cemetery Board.
He is survived by his wife Carol of 65 years; two daughters, Sandra (Jon) Marbaise and Brenda (Bob) Bailey both of Little Rock; four grandchildren, Lauren (Andrew) Madden of Nashville, Tennessee, Dr. Jenna Bailey of Little Rock, Bella and Ethan Marbaise (twins) also of Little Rock; several nieces and nephews that he loved; and other relatives and friends.
Funeral services will be Saturday, July 23, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. at the Central Avenue Methodist Church with Roger Hook and John Mark Moore officiating. Burial will be in the Cedar Grove Cemetery in Floral.
Arrangements by Qualls Batesville Funeral Service.
Visitation will be 12:00 p.m. to service time at the church.
Memorials may be made to the Central Avenue Methodist Church 1205 North Central Avenue, Batesville, Arkansas 72501 or your favorite charity.
