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1 State of Arkansas
2 95th General Assembly
3 Fiscal Session, 2026  SMR 1
4
5 By: Senators Rice, J. Boyd, J. Bryant, Caldwell, A. Clark, Crowell, B. Davis, Dees, J. Dismang, J.
6 Dotson, J. English, Flippo, S. Flowers, Gilmore, K. Hammer, Hester, Hickey, Hill, Irvin, B. Johnson, M.
7 Johnson, B. King, G. Leding, F. Love, M. McKee, R. Murdock, J. Payton, C. Penzo, J. Petty, J. Scott,
8 Simon, Stone, D. Sullivan, C. Tucker, D. Wallace
9
10
11SENATE MEMORIAL RESOLUTION
12IN RESPECTFUL MEMORY OF SENATOR GARY DON STUBBLEFIELD
13AND IN RECOGNITION OF HIS MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
14STATE OF ARKANSAS AND HIS LOCAL COMMUNITY.
15
16
17Subtitle
18IN RESPECTFUL MEMORY OF SENATOR GARY DON
19STUBBLEFIELD AND IN RECOGNITION OF HIS
20MANY CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STATE OF
21ARKANSAS AND HIS LOCAL COMMUNITY.
22
23WHEREAS, Arkansas State Senator Gary Don Stubblefield, formerly of
24 Branch, passed away on Tuesday, September 2, 2025, at the age of seventy-four
25 (74); and
26
27WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield was born on February 28, 1951, in
28 Charleston, Arkansas, to H.T. "Tottie" Stubblefield and Beulah Mae
29 Stubblefield; and
30
31WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield was raised on a small family farm on
32 Mill Creek Mountain, before his family moved to a farm in Branch, where his
33 family cleared the land by hand and raised Holstein milk cows; and
34
35WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield would milk cows before and after
36 school each day, and would ride his bicycle for two (2) miles each way to
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1 catch a school bus to and from the County Line school, where he played
2 basketball in junior and senior high; and
3
4WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield attended the University of Arkansas
5 in Fayetteville where he successfully walked on to the Arkansas Razorbacks
6 football team, despite having never played football as County Line schools
7 did not have a football program at that time; and
8
9WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield had a successful football career
10 with the Arkansas Razorbacks football team as a cornerback and on special
11 teams and with whom he played in the Liberty Bowl and the Cotton Bowl; and
12
13WHEREAS, while attending the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville,
14 Senator Gary Stubblefield met his wife, Kathi, whom he married in 1974, and
15 with whom he raised his daughter, Amber, and son, Joshua, while running his
16 family dairy farm; and
17
18WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield subsequently began a life of public
19 service, serving as a Justice of the Peace on the Franklin County Quorum
20 Court, as a member of the School Board of the County Line School District, as
21 a member of the Arkansas Milk Stabilization Board, to which he was appointed
22 by Governor Mike Huckabee, as a board member of the SFA Farmers Co-Op, as a
23 member of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, and as a member of
24 the Convention of States; and
25
26WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield was elected to the House of
27 Representatives as Representative for House District 67 in 2011, where he
28 served a single term before running for election in the Senate; and
29
30WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield was elected to the Senate in 2013,
31 where he served as Senator for Senate District 23 until his passing in 2025;
32 and
33
34WHEREAS, during his time in the Senate, Senator Gary Stubblefield
35 served as Chair of the City, County and Local Affairs Committee, as Chair of
36 the Senate Committee on Judiciary, and as Vice-Chair of the Game and
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1 Fish/State Police Subcommittee of the Legislative Council; and
2
3      WHEREAS, during his time in the Senate, Senator Gary Stubblefield
4 served as a member of the Legislative Council, the Claims Review Subcommittee
5 of the Legislative Council, the Charitable, Penal and Correctional
6 Institutions Subcommittee of the Legislative Council, the Highway Commission
7 Review and Advisory Subcommittee of the Legislative Council, the Joint Budget
8 Committee, the State Insurance Programs Oversight Subcommittee, the Senate
9 Committee on Judiciary, the Senate Efficiency Committee, the Joint Committee
10 on Energy, the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, and the Committee on
11 Counties and Municipalities of the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee; and
12
13      WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield was known for his strong faith and
14 diligence, and was a lifelong member of the First Baptist Church in Branch,
15 which he became a member of in 1976, and where he served as a deacon, as
16 Sunday school superintendent, and as a Sunday school youth boys' teacher for
17 thirty-four (34) years; and
18
19      WHEREAS, Senator Gary Stubblefield is survived by his wife of fifty-one
20 (51) years, Kathi Stubblefield, by his two (2) children, Amber Sullivan and
21 Joshua Stubblefield, and by his ten (10) grandchildren,
22
23 NOW THEREFORE,
24 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE
25 STATE OF ARKANSAS:
26
27      THAT the Senate remember Senator Gary Don Stubblefield and recognize
28 his enormous contributions to the State of Arkansas and to his local
29 community.
30
31 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT upon adoption of this resolution, an appropriate
32 copy be provided to Kathi Stubblefield and family by the Secretary of the
33 Senate.
34
35
36
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