George "Shorty" Fife

George “Shorty” Fife, 85, of Crossett, went home to be with the Lord on Thursday, February 27, 2025, with his family by his side. He was born on September 5, 1939, in Strong, Arkansas to his parents, John Lee and Lou Ellen Agerton Fife and was a faithful member of Second Baptist Church of Crossett.

A proud veteran, he served honorably in the United States Army before returning home to build a career. He worked for a few years at Chase Bag Company before embarking on a lucrative career as a paper maker with Georgia Pacific, where he eventually retired after an impressive forty-two years.

Shorty was remarkably intelligent and had a knack for fixing anything that was broken. His passion for hunting and fishing knew no bounds—if it had hair, feathers, or scales, he was interested, though turkeys were always his game of choice. A walking encyclopedia of the outdoors, he possessed an impressive knowledge of trees and wildlife and had a natural talent for cultivating beautiful vegetable gardens.

Shorty was known for being hard-headed, opinionated, and “always right.” But above all, he was a man of faith who loved the Lord, his family, and his dogs.

Along with his parents, he is preceded in death by his siblings, James “Buddy” Fife and Ethyle Fife Jones and one great-grandson, Thed Hollis.

He leaves behind his wife and high school sweetheart of sixty-four years, Ethel Lynn Gates Fife; and one daughter, Sandra Norrell (Dale) of Hamburg; and one son, Gary Fife (Melissa) of Crossett; along with three sisters, Mavis Love of Mountain Home, AR, June Noble of Crossett, and Bobbye Kay Childers (Jewell Wayne) also of Crossett; two brothers-in-law, George Yelvington of Ireland and Bill Gates of Arizona; three grandchildren, Daniel Norrell, Nicki Hollis (Bryan), and Logan Fife (Allison); and three great-grandchildren, Eli Hollis, Rosalee Hollis and Cutter Fife.

A Celebration of Life Service will be held at 1:30 p.m., Saturday, March 1st, at Second Baptist Church of Crossett, 3142 Hwy 169 S., with Pastor Donald Stafford and Bro. James Harrington, officiating, followed by interment at Crossroads Cemetery under the direction of Medders Funeral Home. Pallbearers will be J.W. Byrd, Royce Blissett, Todd Edwards, Bryan Johnson, Clint Rawls and Gabe Richards. Honorary pallbearers are John Key, John Grady Richards, John Lewis Surratt, Steve Childers, Larry Senn, Bobby Vickers, Bob Griffis, James Coody and Troy Lane Knight.

Visitation will be from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at the church prior to the service.

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