Margaret Kay Pyron

Margaret Kay Fowler Pyron On Wednesday November 16, 2022, Margaret Kay Fowler Pyron (Kay), devoted wife and mother of two, passed away peacefully at her home in Foreman, AR, at the age of seventy-six. Born to Doyle and Ethel Fowler on February 11, 1946, Kay spent her entire life surrounded by family, friends and neighbors in southwest Arkansas. Kay grew up in the Blackland community, on the outskirts of Foreman, with her parents and her two sisters. Kay’s fearless independence was handed down from a long line of fearlessness – especially from her mother. She learned from an early age that, to make anything happen, you had to focus on getting the job done yourself. This could take the form of continued educational pursuits, growing a garden, educating teenagers, or jumping from hobbies as varied as macrame – to tole painting – to dress making – to flower pressing – to poetry writing – and even wallpapering the occasional room at one o’clock in the morning. Always a study in contrasts, Kay was just as comfortable in a gold lamé ballgown being crowned Miss Foreman as she was tilling garden rows with her father. She was a rare combination of beauty, savviness and toughness that likely contributed to her husband, Bob, asking for her hand in marriage in 1964. They made their family complete with the birth of a daughter in 1966 and a son in 1972. Kay fiercely loved her family. She would “fight a circle saw” to defend her family members, but she could also remind them that those “particular jeans” might not be in their best interest. A constant learner (a trait she passed on to both her children), Kay earned a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in library science and spent much of her adult life as a high school English teacher. She was often noted as a favorite teacher by past students – for her ability to make Shakespeare enjoyable, for not putting up with any classroom shenanigans and for driving remarkably fast out of the parking lot to get home each day. On the domestic front, Kay was well known for asserting that the dishes could always wait until later and that there was nothing better than having an impromptu picnic in the living room at 10:30 p.m. to watch the movie of the week. She despised being bored or anything she deemed boring – so she emersed herself in novels, movies and television shows that explored the wonder, romance, and thrills of the human experience. She also loved her occasional road trip and ocean cruise with her sister, Elaine, where they would undoubtedly make a lasting impression on everyone they met. Kay will be remembered for leaving a trail of Esteé Lauder White Linen in any room she exited along with her love of daffodils, her sly smile, her sharp humor, her fierce determination, and her generous love of her family. She is survived by her husband, Bob, and their two children, Kristie Pyron Smith and her husband Rickey of Foreman, AR and Kyle Pyron and his wife Elizabeth of Fort Worth, TX. She is also survived by three granddaughters who all inherited her unique combination of beauty, brains, and spirit – Shae Rogers of DeQueen, AR, Chloe Pyron of Los Angeles, CA and Emma Pyron of Fort Worth, TX. A visitation with the family will be held at Madden Funeral Home in Foreman on Friday, November 18, from 5 to 7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be made to the Foreman Public Schools Library Fund, the Gator Bash Scholarship fund, or to Foreman Church of Christ, where Kay was a longtime member. A private burial will be held at Dollarhide Cemetery, where, in the spring, if you close your eyes when the daffodils are in full bloom, you might just recognize the faint scent of White Linen in the air.

Margaret Kay Pyron

February 11, 1946 - November 16, 2022