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Story by Susan O'Connor, Photos By Dero Sanford

For someone who has touched countless lives throughout the community and beyond, Loretta Langford Bookout is truly humble. That is part of her great charm.

“I have not done big things in my life – I haven’t built great monuments,” she said with utmost sincerity, “but I’ve done little things. I’ve touched the lives of children.”

To be sure, Bookout has influenced the lives of children through her decades of innovation in early childhood education. But her service runs much deeper and wider than her career. She has found ways to minister to people through her church, civic and philanthropic work, as a political wife to longtime Arkansas legislator Jerry Bookout, as well as in the family business, Langford-Bookout Funeral Home, an institution in Jonesboro since 1903.

The Bookouts’ first home was Fort Polk, La., where Jerry served as a first lieutenant in the Army. She describes those days as incredibly happy. In 1958 they returned to Jonesboro and Bookout went to work for her father, Lloyd Langford Sr., and the young couple lived in an apartment in the landmark Langford Funeral Service building on South Main. As a child, her family’s living quarters were also in the building.

“In the old days, people in the funeral business lived in the funeral home because it was a 24/7 business,” she said. “I literally grew up in the funeral home. I have lived in three parts of that building.”

After four years in the family business, she became a stay-at-home Mom with the adoption of their son, Paul, in 1962. Five years later, they adopted a daughter, Jill.

Throughout all the transitions life brought, Bookout continued her education at Arkansas State University, completing a master’s degree in education in 1980 and subsequent work towards a doctorate.

I continually wanted to learn,” she said. “I think most educators do.”

In 1967, Bookout began the first of several visionary projects in early childhood education in Jonesboro with the development of the Head Start program here, one of the first of its kind. Her eyes were opened to the need for Head Start through her involvement in a Jonesboro Junior Auxiliary service project. At the time, there were private learning environments for children in Jonesboro, but many could not afford the expense.

“This was a glaring need in our community because there were so many children whose needs were not being met by the programs that were in place,” she said.

In addition to her role in the implementation of the local program, Bookout served as a consultant for the Head Start Regional Training Office and traveled throughout Arkansas observing teachers and conducting workshops and in-service training.

She also was instrumental in the establishment of kindergarten in the Jonesboro public school system in the early 1970s. Working with colleagues Jo Ann Nalley, the late Mildred Vance and the late Ruth Steinsick, Bookout helped draw needed attention to the cause.

“We descended on the capitol,” she said of the women’s lobbying efforts. “There were so many in the state who felt the need for public kindergarten. “And my husband was in the legislature at the time.”

She developed the public school kindergarten curriculum from the “ground up,” as well as the learning environment. Bookout was one of the first kindergarten teachers at South Elementary School.

In 1981, Bookout was approached with a new opportunity, the implementation of the first kindergarten program at St. Mark’s Episcopal Day School. It was just the type of challenge she loves. She designed the kindergarten facility, developed the curriculum and purchased the materials and supplies. She taught there for five years, and served as director of the school for two years.

In addition, she was a consultant to the preschool day program at First Presbyterian Church and served as board member and adviser.

“I have loved establishing programs and overseeing the curriculum. I am really a perfectionist when it comes to educating children.”

In 1987, Bookout began a new phase in her career with a teaching position at ASU. In this capacity, she developed the Introduction to Elementary School Teaching course and taught six sections of the class for 10 years. As part of the requirements for the course, students spend 30 hours per semester in elementary classrooms throughout Northeast Arkansas.

“ASU had never had an education course with field service,” she said. “This helped students determine if they really wanted to be a teacher. Most would come back enthused about the profession, but occasionally, a student would say, ‘Teaching is not for me.’ And that was okay. That was an important purpose of the course.”

During that time, she also carried a very heavy load of academic advisees, a role she found quite satisfying. “It is a beautiful thing to nurture college freshmen and sophomores to their choice of career path — to be able to guide them as future teachers.”

Her devotion to the ASU teacher education program earned the highest honor given in the field, the Dr. Eugene W. Smith Point of Excellence Award.

She is also a member of the Jonesboro Jaycees Hall of Honor, was given the Alpha Gamma Delta International Award as Outstanding Chapter Adviser and received the Alpha Gamma Delta Outstanding Alum Chum Award. She has been awarded for her work as a friend of the Jonesboro Public Library, and her family was honored with the designation of ASU’s Bookout Plaza and Bookout Street on campus. She is also a board member of numerous philanthropic organizations, including the NEA Clinic Foundation, where she also serves as a volunteer in the HopeCircle program, which assists cancer patients and their families.

“My first introduction to HopeCircle was when Jerry was getting chemo and blood transfusions at NEA,” she said. “Volunteers came in and filled needs as they saw them.”

The organization offers comforts such as fresh sandwiches, homemade cookies, coffee, handmade blankets and pillows, hats, wigs and a lending library full of all types of books.

“They are so sensitive. It seems like these are such minor things, but they are huge for the families. When you are really, really sick, those touches are so important,” she said.

Bookout has been chosen as this year’s honoree for the NEA Gala, set for Friday, June 6, at the Holiday Inn. The event raises funds for worthy causes such as HopeCircle, the Center for Healthy Children, Wellness Works and the Medicine Assistance Program.

“Last year – the first gala – we honored the founding physicians of NEA Clinic,” said Christy Appleton, director of the NEA Clinic Foundation. “This year, we wanted to honor someone from the community who gives of themselves to help others. Loretta is a perfect example of a genuine, kind, smart, energetic lady who has lived and worked in Jonesboro for many years. She has a very loving family who has been in public service all their lives. She and Jerry raised their children to give back to their community and state, and they have created a legacy in education and pubic service.”

Though impressive, Bookout’s career and subsequent awards and recognition are but a small facet of her joy. Her faith and family are paramount in her life and have helped her heal after the loss of her husband in 2006. Both her son and daughter and their families – including grandchildren Rachel Rogers, Morgan Bookout and P.J. Bookout — live in Jonesboro, a source of great comfort.

“My grandchildren are the apples of my eye. They are one of the main reasons I’ve healed like I have after the loss of Jerry. The love of children and grandchildren fills a great void.”

Now, Bookout’s career has come full circle. She is working in the family funeral business with her brother, Lloyd Langford Jr., and her son, Paul. She feels a special call to be a comfort to families who have lost loved ones.

“We were together 54 years, just three months shy of being married 50 years,” she explained. “Jerry was my best friend. With his loss, my heart was broken. I want to honor his memory by making a difference in others. Now I can say, ‘I truly understand your loss.’ I love being here and I feel this is where God wants me to be. It really has become a ministry to me.

“When you have a tragedy or loss, the best way to survive it is to help someone else – to use your experience to help someone get over their loss. I want every funeral that passes through this funeral home to be just what that family wants and needs to survive that loss.”

Even a short conversation with this remarkable woman reveals a sense of great happiness and peace.

“My life has been a pure dream,” she said. “You hate to say you’ve had a great ride, but I was blessed. I was blessed.”