Oma Cartwright departed this world on July 8, 2023. She was born on November 4, 1928, to Tillman and Minerva Lester in the mountains of the Arkansas Ozarks. As the eldest daughter of nine children, she grew up during the desperate days of the Great Depression, which taught her to become among the most resourceful and frugal of people. These characteristics served her well all her life.
Oma married Arlis Cartwright on June 11, 1949, a union that lasted 59 years until Arlis passed away in 2007. Together, Arlis and Oma raised three children and were a strong influence on the lives of many nieces, nephews, and friends over the years. Oma was of the Mennonite faith.
In 2014, Oma married Harold Talburt.
Oma loved being outdoors and enjoyed fishing as well as walks in the woods and in the mountains. She was also an avid reader, a trait she passed along to her children. But Oma’s happiest moments were when she held a hammer in her hands for building, or when she grabbed a box of matches (she was a bit of a pyromaniac) to reduce a scrap pile or cuttings. Creating a garden, canning, baking, raising cattle, quilting, and otherwise providing for her family was second nature to her.
A hard worker all her life, Oma extended her caring ways to the patients and staff at Calico Rock Medical Center where she worked for many years. She was a good friend and mentor to her fellow healthcare workers well into her eighties.
Oma is survived by her husband, Harold Talburt, children Carol Dubuc, Dennis Cartwright and wife Lori, Helyn Korpella and husband Bob, stepdaughter Kathy Martin and husband Dennis, grandchildren Tony Richardson, Nicole Vasquez, Cody Cartwright, Elizabeth Daugherity, Chelsea Cartwright, and Megan Vanderbush, and by great-grandchildren Preston Ashley, Brooklyn Horner, Kierce Horner, Aviana Horner, and Arlisia Horner, by siblings Lilly West, Curly (Edgar) Lester, and Betty Brncic.
She is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Arlis Cartwright, and siblings Delbert Lester, Tom (Joe Floyd) Lester, Cotton (George Nolan) Lester, and Thelma Gaye Idstein.
The family wishes to thank Stephanie McCarty for all her help caring for Oma the past year and for the compassionate assistance of Elite Hospice as well as all the friends and family members who supported us in her care.
Oma’s dry wit, her strong work ethic, her ability to make a feast with only bare cooking essentials, and her faith in God will be sorely missed. The world will be a bit dimmer with the loss of her light.
