Reta McMillan Townzen left this life February 28th, 2023. Reta was born in Hiwasse, AR, November 30th, 1923, to Phillip and Cora Fletcher McMillan. Both parent’s families homesteaded the area in the 1880s. Reta had two brothers, now deceased, Howard McMillan of Boise, Idaho and Reece McMillan of Meridian, Idaho. Reta attended the new Hiwasse public school, built in 1923. She bragged it was built just for her. Reta loved to read and often escaped to her barn loft or shed roof to read anything she could find.
Along with hunting and swimming, the school and its activities were some of her best memories. At an early age, Reta became an expert at peeling and drying apples, canning fruit and vegetables and cooking from scratch on any stove that could make a fire. The young Reta loved going to church, attending Hiwasse Christian Church on Sunday and the Hiwasse Advent Church on Saturday. Music and singing was in her heart, as her mother played the banjo, her father the fiddle and uncle the guitar. She was part of a trio of school girls who travelled singing gospel songs at area churches. She was baptized in the cold water of Spavinaw Creek and rode the train that chugged through Hiwasse loading it’s vast crops of apples.
As the Depression of the 1930s dried up the little town, Reta moved to Bentonville, working at the canning factory and cleaning houses for the Berrys, Lindsey's and Baines. It was here she met her husband, Clarence. As she remembered, “He winked at me and the rest is history.” In hard times, Reta learned to sew on a treadle sewing machine, making her family’s clothes and earning extra money as seamstress to friends and neighbors. Feed sacks were often her material of choice provided by the growing area poultry industry. Together, Clarence and Reta picked green beans, tomatoes and strawberries in the local fields where Clarence learned to drive trucks and gained employment with local trucking companies. He later found his skill as a carpenter.
In 1958, Reta was one of the first employees of Daisy Air Rifle in Rogers, sharing the ride to work with family. Suffering an injury, she returned to her sewing doing specialty clothing and alterations. She said she was privileged to sew for some of the more prominent families in Bentonville. Her talents of sewing, painting and cooking won her many ribbons at the county fair. After Clarence passed in 1998, Reta became a volunteer at Northwest Hospital in Bentonville.
Reta’s greatest joy was her children. While she seldom bragged on herself, she embarrassed them all by bragging on their successes. Those successes were brought about by her love and sacrifices. The memories of her cooking a Saturday lunch for family and friends will always be in our hearts. She would say “The front door is for strangers and the back door is for family, and the back door is always open.”
Reta and Clarence were blessed with 5 daughters and 2 sons: Johnny Townzen, wife, Myrna (both deceased), Kathy Mayhall, husband, Carl, Connie Ford, husband, David, Zonna Coffee, husband, Terry (deceased), Reta Carnes "PeeWee" (deceased), Doris Bolain, husband, Eddie (deceased), Randy Townzen, and wife, Julie. There are 11 grandchildren; Bradley Townzen, Bryon Mayhall, wife, Sandy, Jason Mayhall, wife, Brooke, Terry Fluitt, husband, Lance, Marion Thompson, husband, David, Grant Coffee, Kim Gallagher, Steve Bolain (Jillian), Stephanie Dean, husband, Jason, Kellie Farrell, husband, Sean, Ashley Tate, and husband, Robert. There are 30 great grandchildren and 14 great great grandchildren.
Services will be Monday, March 6th at Callison-Lough in Bentonville. Visitation at 1:00 with service following at 2:00. Burial in Bentonville Cemetery.
