Emily K Faulkner

Emily Meek (Kittle) Faulkner, born May 16, 1925, passed from this life on December 10, 2019. She is preceded in death by her husband, Lloyt Reid Faulkner, and her parents, Charles and Thelma Kittle. Emily is survived by her sister and brother-in-law, Charleese and Bud Sladky, of Jacksonville, FL. She is also survived by her daughter, Charla Reid Faulkner, and son, David Evan Faulkner, both from Little Rock. Emily was a beloved grandmother to three grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. They are Kendra Shawn Faulkner Shaw of Tampa, FL, with her daughter Claudia, Kanyon Faulkner of New York, NY, and Andrew Christopher Faulkner of Conway, AR, with his wife, Khandra Dell Faulkner, and their children: Kendall, Rebekah, and Abigail.

She was born in Memphis, TN, but she lived her first years in Minter City, MS. Her much loved father, Charles Kittle, was the Station Master for Central Illinois Railroad. Due to her father’s transfers Emily also lived in Arcola and Merigold, MS. Emily met Reid Faulkner on a bus traveling between Columbus and Starkville, MS, where they were attending Mississippi State College for Women and Mississippi State University, respectively. She always said she knew he would be the one for her from that fateful first meeting. When Reid was 20 and Emily just 17, he enlisted in the United States Army when the nation was faced with World War II. Reid was sent to England and was part of the Normandy offensive. While he was in Europe until the end of the war in 1945, Emily was completing her degree in Mathematics at The “W”. She has entered college at the age of 16 after winning numerous statewide Math contests during elementary and high school. Although she was not interested in teaching at the time, her mother, and her beloved math professor. Dr. Grosnickel, made sure that she had all of the courses necessary to teach math, a subject in which she was extremely talented.

After the war ended, Emily had completed her studies and she began teaching as the only woman in the Engineering Department at Mississippi State University. Her students were hundreds of recently returned WWII veterans anxious to start new lives and opportunities with the GI Bill. Emily and Reid married on December 22, 1946, and shortly after moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico where Reid taught and pursued research, earning his Master’s Degree in Entomology at New Mexico State University. During this time a daughter, Charla Reid Faulkner,was born in 1950, followed by a son, David Evan Faulkner, in 1953. Shortly after, in 1954, the young family moved back to their familiar southern state of Mississippi, this time settling in the town of Greenville. While there, Emily taught at Greenville High School, serving as city-wide mathematics supervisor of the Greenville Public Schools and the head of the math department until the family moved to Little Rock, AR, in 1966. Emily went on to teach at Little Rock Central High School for 20 years where she also served as the Math Department Head. in 1986, she moved on to teach math at Pulaski Academy, retiring in 1999. She loved working with young people, so she continued to teach as a private tutor until the grand age of 92, when her health and eyesight began to foil her efforts. It is a conservative estimate that Emily taught and touched the lives of roughly 20,000 students during her lifetime. A very talented mathematician, her true calling was to teach and care for young people. In the process she helped many of them with their lives. Some of her students became doctors, attorneys, engineers, and teachers. She was their champion. She gave them her respect and her love as well as knowledge.

Emily was a member of The Daughters of the American Revolution, Alpha Delta Kappa Sorority, Delta Kappa Gamma Society, Cum Laude Society, and The American Association of University Women. In 1987, she received the Stephens Award for Teaching Excellence, and in 1998, The Arkansas Governor’s School Outstanding Educator Award.

The Faulkner family would like to thank all of Emily’s physicians and incredible nursing staff at the Baptist Health Medical Center in Little Rock, and Hospice Home Care of Little Rock. The family would also ask that in lieu of flowers or meals that people please make a donation in Emily’s name to the Faulkner County 4-H Foundation. These donations will be earmarked for a future 4-H Center for Faulkner County youth named in memory of Reid and Emily Faulkner. Donations may be made by contacting Kami Green at the Faulkner County Cooperative Extension Service at 501-329-8344.