Katie Louise Riddle, August 13, 1928 – February 7, 2022

February 17, 2022

Katie Louise Riddle passed away at the age of 93. She was born to the late Charlie and Minnie Kelly Swanson in McCrory. She was a faithful member of Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church of Cotton Plant, where she ministered as a choir member and unofficial greeter, often sharing her homemade baked goods with the members and visitors. As a child growing up in McCrory, Katie accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior at St. John Missionary Baptist Church.
Katie loved kids and was a devoted and caring teacher's assistant at Head Start and the elementary school in Cotton Plant. She later was employed for over 30 years at the Woodruff County Hospital/Nursing Home, where she was a cook for the patients and workers at the facility.

Katie was united in holy matrimony on March 29, 1959 to Booker T. Riddle. Their marriage lasted over 57 years. They were blessed to raise six children in Cotton Plant. The love for her children and husband were evident to everyone who knew her.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Charlie and Minnie Kelly Swanson; her husband, Booker T. Riddle; one daughter, Velma Louise Flakes; one son, Yulandus Althon Riddle; six siblings, Minnie Lee Toussaint, Ella Wee Randolph, Franchelle Freeman, Syvira Lee Eaton, Esther Woods, Charlene Warren and Joe Swanson. Survivors are her four children, Phillip Calvin Riddle, of Dallas, TX, Ferrell Dean Jeffers (Michael), of Little Rock, Tosknella Pearson (Bryant), of Garland, TX, and Charlie Burn Riddle (Frankie), of Jacksonville; eight grandchildren:,Jinekquar Ray-Turner, Herston Ray-Hall, Nicholas Ray-Riddle, Twana Riddle, Tamika Riddle, Medgar Jeffers, Gabria Monét Pearson and Avery Pearson; five great-grandchildren; and one fond-loving brother: Jake Swanson, of Saint Louis, MO; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Funeral services were February 12 at Ash Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Cotton Plant with Pastors Charlie Riddle and Frankie Riddle officiating. Interment was at Morning Star Cemetery in Cotton Plant by Branscumb Johnson & Gilchrest Funeral Home of Brinkley.