Norma Lee Eldridge, 85, of Jacksonville, AR, entered her heavenly home on Saturday, October 17, 2026.

Born February 13, 1941, to the late Rudolph and Dora Marie Wood, she would be born again and baptized in 1974.

In 1956, at the young age of 15, she would meet and marry Roy Eldridge, and together they would have three children: Mark, Staci, and Chad. Although their marriage didn’t last, their friendship endured until the day Dad died. She would later meet the great love of her life, Carroll Garvin, and spend the next 38 years together until his passing in 2016.

After retiring from Harvest Foods, she spent her time traveling out west with Carroll, chasing her grandchildren around, and working in her yard and flower beds, which she loved. Much to Carroll’s chagrin, she would clean, clean some more, and then redecorate daily. The poor man never knew where to sit to watch his afternoon Gunsmoke. Although, he wouldn’t get to watch for long before she’d have to get her evening CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News in so she could compare notes and get her blood pressure worked up over politics.

Mom had the best sense of humor and loved a good prank or practical joke. She could banter back and forth with the best of them. We always knew we could tell her anything. She might be mad, but we’d talk about that later. She was like her mother and could tell a story that made you feel as though you had been there when it happened. She was strikingly beautiful, inside and out, and talented at everything she tried to do.

Our hearts are broken, but we’re comforted in knowing she’s been reunited with our many loved ones in paradise.

The family would like to express a special heartfelt thank you to her granddaughter, Mackie Edmondson, for the love, care, and compassion she showed Mom during her final months. Her devotion and kindness brought comfort not only to Mom but to our entire family, and we will forever be grateful.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her children’s father, Roy Eldridge; the love of her life, Carroll Garvin; her sister, Doris Adcox; and her two sisters-in-law, Barbara Wood and Jo Dana Wood.

She is survived by her children, Mark Eldridge of Jacksonville, Staci Edmondson and her husband, Greg, of Jacksonville, and Chad Eldridge and his wife, Sarah, of Judsonia, AR; her brothers, Leonard Wood of Sherwood and Ricky Wood of Jacksonville; her grandchildren, Mackie, Drew, Sydni, Keelan, Shelby, and Marie Ann; her great-grandchildren, Remi, Kennedy, Savvy, and Aubrey; and a host of cousins, nieces, and nephews.

A Graveside service will be 2:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 21, 2026 at Chapel Hill Memorial Park in Jacksonville.

Mom had a heart for animals, and in lieu of flowers, we’d ask that, if you feel inclined, you make a donation to your local animal shelter or the SPCA. That would make her heart happy.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16