Memorial bench placed on campus
in memory of Paul McCarson

September 12, 2005

Present for the installation were President Roettger (left) and members of the McCarson and Brawner families. Onalee Brawner is third from right.

Joe Hughes (left), an employee of Stone-Hance Monument Co., guides the 600-pound bench as a crain, operated by Carrol Ryan (not shown),
lifts it into place.

By Bob Qualls

For years, Paul McCarson would visit the Lyon College campus and place flowers near a memorial bench erected in honor of his sister, Ruth McCarson Bowen. Both McCarson and his sister had been raised in the Masonic Orphans’ Home that once occupied the site of what is now part of the college campus.

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, Onalee Brawner of Wynne, a memorial bench dedicated in honor of McCarson has now been placed only a few feet away from his sister’s.

Stone-Hance Monument Co. of Batesville delivered the 600-pound gray granite bench to the campus Tuesday with a few members of the McCarson and Brawner families looking on.

The two benches are located in a tree-shaded spot between the Admissions and Alumni House and the Carriage House. It overlooks the bluff on the north side of the campus and offers good view of Brown Chapel and the Nichols Administration Building. Indeed, the benches are very near the site of the old Masonic Orphanage.

Paul McCarson was born May 12, 1924, and died August 6, 2004, at the age of 80, according to Miss Brawner.“His mother died at his birth and his father died two years later,” Miss Brawner said “He and his sisters came from Marshall to Batesville to live in the Masonic Orphans’ Home, which was located on this site.”

Miss Brawner said that McCarson’s older sister, Ruth, “looked after him at the orphanage and basically raised him.”

When Paul was 16, he had to leave the orphanage. He found a job and a place to live in town and continued his education at Batesville High School.

“Paul excelled in all sports, especially football,” Miss Brawner said. “Upon graduation, he accepted a full scholarship to LSU (Louisiana State University).” She said that McCarson set a school record at LSU that still stands today. He played more minutes as a freshman than any other freshman in the team’s history.

After only one year at LSU, he was called to duty in the military service. After hnis tour in the Army, he returned to Batesville. He eventually went to work for Arkla Gas Co., and moved to Wynne with his wife and son.

“He was in charge of bringing natural gas to eastern Arkansas,” Miss Brawner said. “That was when I became acquainted with the McCarson family. I left the gas company a few months later and moved to Memphis.”

Paul and his family lived in Wynne about 10 years before returning to Batesville in the early 1950s. He was working for the Arkansas State Game and Fish Commission when Arkansas Eastman Co. moved into the area. McCarson joined Eastman and remained there until his retirement.

“Paul and I became re-acquainted in 1995 and remained good friends until his death,” Miss Brawner said. “He was one of the best people it has been my pleasure to know. This memorial bench is to honor his good life and his good work.”

The engraving on the bench reads, “Presented in loving memory by Onalee Brawner.” Along with McCarson’s name and dates of birth and death, it says, “Raised in a Masonic Orphans’ Home on this site.”

It is similar to the engraving on McCarson’s sister’s memorial, which was presented by Mt. Zion Lodge #10, F&AM. It notes that Ruth McCarson Bowen (June 24, 1921-June 24, 1994) was a Marine in World War II, wife, mother, author and poet. She was a member of Ruth Chapter #91, OES.

Several of Miss Brawner’s family from Wynne gathered Tuesday along with members of McCarson’s family to watch the delivery and placement of the bench. Dr. Walter Roettger, president of the college, said a prayer after the memorial was in place.

Lyon College, then Arkansas College, leased the Masonic property in the 1940s, when the orphanage’s population had dwindled, and eventually purchased it. The college moved from its downtown location to the old Masonic site in 1954.

Paul McCarson’s great-granddaughter, Hannah Kimmer, stands on the bench dedicated in memory of her late great-grandfather. With her is her mother, Crystal Kimmer, and Lyon President Walter Roettger. Hannah’s father, Bryan Kimmer of Batesville, is Mr. McCarson’s grandson. Another grandson, Justin McCarson, his wife Tina, and son Cullan, also live in Batesville.

Lyon College officials and members of the McCarson and Brawner families watch the installation of the memorial bench Tuesday. At right is Onalee Brawner, who donated the bench in memory of Mr. McCarson.

Photos by Jason Marzewski