Lloyd Thomas Westbrook, of Conway, went to be with the Lord on August 5, 2016. He was 83 years old.
Lloyd is survived by his wife, Connie Westbrook of 64 years; his daughters, Barbie Henry (David) of Little Rock and Beverly Arnold (Richie) of Conway; his grandchildren Patrick Henry, Kirsten Fredrich (Ted), Christopher Henry (Gwendolyn) of Little Rock, and Dustin Arnold, Catherine Arnold, Natalie Arnold of Conway; his six great-grandchildren; and his brother Loy Westbrook (Mickey) of Broken Arrow, Okla. He was preceded in death by his parents, Olan and May Westbrook of Dierks; his sisters, Gladys McKaskle of Dierks and Eunice Carpenter of Indiana; and grand-daughter, Candice Henry of Little Rock.
Lloyd was born on Oct. 11, 1932 in Dierks, Ark. He was a graduate of Dierks High School and received his Bachelor (1955) and Masters (1964) degrees in Agriculture from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. In 1992, he was granted Emeritus rank by the U of A Trustees. He served two years in the U.S. Army and spent 16 months of that in Germany. In 1961, Lloyd served as Stone County Agent while living in Mountain View, Ark.; there he developed the Overall Economic Development Plan for Stone County. He served as an original committee member on the development of the Arkansas Folk Center, as well as the first Arkansas Folk Festival in 1962. He was also a Charter Member of the committee which helped plan and organize the Arkansas Foothills Handicraft Guild and the first Guild Craft Show. In 1962, he was responsible for appointing the Chairman of Committee to get the Blanchard Springs Caverns developed and open to the public. That same year he served as President of the Mountain View Lions Club.
Upon graduation from the U of A, Lloyd was employed by the Universities Cooperative Extension Service as a county extension agent. In addition to Stone County, he also served as County Agent in Miller, Union, Cleburne and Faulkner Counties. In 1970, he was appointed to the State Extension Staff as a state program leader where he served for over 17 years as Arkansas 4-H director. During his time as director he was instrumental in the development of the Arkansas 4-H Center in Ferndale. On Dec. 31, 1987 he retired from the U of A Cooperative Extension Service after 32 years.
Lloyd has been a resident of Conway, Ark., since 1965. In 1970, he served as the President of the Conway Rotary Club and remained a member throughout his life. He served as Rotary District Governor Representative in 1991 and received numerous awards such as the Paul Harris Fellow Award and the 2000 Vocational Business Award. Lloyd was also a member of the Board of Directors of the Faulkner County Farm Bureau; he served as President from 1990-1992.
He was a proud member of the Faulkner County 4-H Foundation where he previously served on the Board of Directors and was named President in 1998. In 1990, he was employed by the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce as Director of Community Services where he gave leadership to the chamber accreditation program. In 1992, Lloyd was appointed Chamber Executive and served as President and CEO of the Conway Area Chamber of Commerce until his retirement in August of 2000. During his time at the chamber, the Conway Chamber was the 5th chamber to be accredited by the U.S. Chamber Association and membership was expanded from 450 to over 800 members. He gave leadership to the planning, development, and fundraising for the new chamber building; the $1.5-million-dollar project was completed by December 1999 and the building was debt free by August of 2000 with a $100,000 maintenance fund established. In 2016, the Chamber of Commerce renamed their Good Neighbor Award in honor of his many years of service; it is now called ”The Lloyd T. Westbrook Good Neighbor Award”.
Lloyd owned and operated Con-L-Ranch where he raised beef cattle and was a proud member of the Friendship community since 1974; there he met one of his closest friends and right-hand man, Lewis Easterwood. He also owns a collection of antique John Deer tractors. In addition to his farm, he had a love for woodcarving, playing pick-n-bow and the juice harp. Lloyd and Connie have been longtime members of First Baptist Church where Lloyd was a member of the Fellowship Class.
Honorary Pallbearers were Dave Kinley, Danny Linn, Larry Marshall, Jim Baker, Lewis Easterwood, Bill Humphrey.
In Lieu of flowers, please consider donations to the Lloyd and Connie Endowment Fund at Central Baptist College, Faulkner County 4-H, or the First Baptist Church Building Fund.
Family visitation was Sunday, Aug. 7, 2016, 6:00-8:00 p.m., at First Baptist Church of Conway. Funeral service were Monday, Aug. 8, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. at the church with Dr. Dale Wicker and Senator Stanley Russ officiating.
