Fred is survived by his wife of 46 years, Beverly, four of his five children from his marriage to Shirley Jean Dowell, (deceased) and their partners/spouses: Fred Milligan Jr., (Agata), Linda Wallis, (Joe) Lisa Kelley Healy, (James), Shawn Milligan, (Candice), Beverly’s daughter Kim McDoniel and ten grandchildren, nineteen great-grandchildren and several great- great-grandchildren.
Born on March 31st,1934 to Virgie and Elvin Orlando Milligan at home in Sharp County. Fred was the youngest of five children and the last survivor of his family, being preceded in death by his father and mother as well as his sisters, Avalene, Aldene and Birteen and his brother Mitchell along with his daughter, Laura Edgar.
Since birth, Fred was a part of the Milligan Campground Cumberland Presbyterian community of faith. As an adult, following his personal profession of faith and baptism, he was ordained to serve as a Ruling Elder in this congregation. No doubt, many of his Christian values were supported through his affiliation with the Masons as well.
A large part of Fred’s expression of his faith was his love of singing the Lord’s praises. As the bass singer in a local gospel quartet called the Gospel Echoes, he traveled throughout the area performing at churches of all denominations. His love of music was also strongly influenced by his early participation in the brass band founded by his father, Elvin, who had played trumpet in the Army band during the First World War.
Fred also learned the habit of hard work on his family’s farm and often spoke of traveling with members to other farms to pick cotton. This physical exertion along with his team spirit likely contributed to Fred’s development into a star player on the Strawberry High School basketball team.
After graduation from high school and his marriage to Shirley, the young couple moved to Detroit and later Chicago to find work in factories there and start their family. Shortly before the birth of their third child, they returned to Arkansas to live near Fred’s childhood home where he took up farming, factory work, operating his own filling station and later working as a construction carpenter – whatever he could do to earn an honest dollar to provide for his growing family.
A few years after the end of his marriage to the mother of his children, Fred met and fell in love with Beverly, the woman who would become his wife, companion, encourager and soulmate. Always a very social person who never met a stranger, Fred was filled with stories of humorous incidents from across the years, and a desire to help his fellowman in any way he could. These strengths eventually led him to discover his true calling as an extraordinarily successful insurance Agent for the Bankers Life and Casualty Company. In fact, even after his retirement, Fred continued to maintain relationships with those who had placed their trust in him and kept his license current in order to assist with issues they might have.
For the last 25 years, he and Beverly have lived in Newark and devoted themselves to keeping up with the lives of their immediate and extended family and their many endeavors, caring for their many household pets and feral cats, dogs, opossums, and raccoons and overseeing the rental of his farm in Sharp County.
The values he stood for and the stories he shared have left a lasting and positive legacy for all who knew him. He was truly a blessing to this family, community, and our world.
A memorial service and celebration of life will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 4 at the Milligan Campground Cemetery church building near Strawberry. Rev. Rian Pucket officiating. Immediately following the service family and friends are invited to gather at the Smithville community Building on Highway 115/117 in Smithville for food and fellowship.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Fred’s memory be made to the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches P.O. Box 3964, Batesville, AR 72503 or the Humane Society of Independence County, Batesville, AR 72501.
