of Little Rock, AR

February 1, 1949 - June 13, 2025

Vance T Blackwell, of Little Rock, AR, 76, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1949 to Forrest and Dora Mae Blackwell. The youngest of four siblings, Forrest (Rosemary) Blackwell predeceased, Charles Bruce (Carol) Blackwell of Carmel, IN and Joyce Elaine (Charles) Berry, Aubrey, TX.  

After his family moved to Blytheville in 1961, Vance graduated from Blytheville High School in 1967 as a member of the National Honor Society and Beta Club.  He was a member of Scout Troop 104 where he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and as a member of the Order of the Arrow, Lodge Hi' lo ha chy' a-la, he achieved the status of Vigil and would be elected lodge Chief.  He worked at Camp Cedar Valley in Hardy where he and his fellow scouts created the legend of the Cooper Stake - a story still passed down by scouts who have no idea it started as a prank. Vance continued to be an active Scout in his adulthood.

He attended Hendrix College earning a degree in mathematics in 1971 and continued his post-bachelor education at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.  Vance retired from Entergy/AP&L after 35 years, where he earned a reputation as a steady and quietly funny colleague.

He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Deitra ''Dee Dee'' (Crane) Blackwell, who he met and married in Blytheville in 1976.  They enjoyed the Arkansas Symphony and were often found at craft shows across the state supporting Deitra's jewelry business.  

Vance was an avid golfer who rarely boasted about his accomplishments on the golf course, even after earning quite an assortment of trophies over the years - including eight hole-in-ones. He was a voracious reader and loved history.  He was a dog lover and bird watcher, creating humorous narratives around the guests at the feeders.  He had a fantastic memory for food flavors, recalling and trying to replicate recipes from his world travels.  He was a proud life-time member of Weight Watchers.

Vance and Deitra have two children, Amy (Trevor) Bennett of Wellsville, NY, Andy (Meagan) Blackwell of Fayetteville, AR and one 9 year old grandchild, Lottie Bennett.  Vance put his family first and was always present poolside, field-side or somewhere in the audience, cheering on his children in every endeavor. 

Vance lived a life marked by quiet leadership, dry humor, curious intelligence and a deep love for his family and friends.  He was a devoted husband and a proud father, ''Papa'' and uncle. He was a gentle, constant presence in the lives of those he cared for. His wisdom, steadiness and subtle wit left an imprint on everyone who knew him. Though he is no longer with us, his legacy lives on in the values he passed to his children, the stories he shared and the kindness he showed in both small moments and great ones. He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered.  

A celebration of Vance's life will be held Friday, June 20th at 1pm at St. Michael's Episcopal Church at 12415 Cantrell Rd, Little Rock, AR 72223 with reception to follow. 

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Natural State Council to help Arkansas Scouts attend summer camp. Contributions can be mailed to the Natural State Council at 3220 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, AR 72202 or made by phone by calling Susan Posey at 501-664-4780, Ext. 232. All gifts given in Vance's name will be acknowledged with a notice sent both to the donor and to the family. Donations will be matched to support the Council's Endowment Fund.


A Letter from the children: 

This week has been marked by deep sorrow, but thankfully by so much humor. As the kids sifted through photos, stories and memories of Vance, laughter often found its way in. Andy noticed something poignant: most of the photos were taken by Vance, from behind the lens, preserving his unique vantage point in the moments he captured. His images are now among the few remaining snapshots of the special moments from our family's collective memory, a final gift from his unique perspective.

Vance was a quiet person in a group, observant, attentive and always listening. While others spoke, he stored away details, often recalling pieces of long-forgotten conversations with uncanny precision. He would drop a perfectly timed remark, dry, wry and effortlessly clever. His humor never demanded attention; it was a gentle curveball. If you blinked, you could miss it.

He was surrounded by artists - Deitra being the first - a metalsmith, singer, pianist, unique to Vance's world. His children, Amy and Andy, their partners, Trevor and Meagan, also creatives. But Vance, disguised as a mathalete, was highly imaginative himself.

At bedtime, Vance would invent stories, often changing the scene for Amy and Andy depending on the day's events. One story that they adored was called Big John. The story was spooky. It told the tale of vagabonds, dared for money, to stay in the old, abandoned mansion on the top of the hill. There might have been 3 men who accepted the dare for whatever amount of money seemed like a lot to a 6 & 10 year old. The story evolved around 2 main themes: 1: The food the men needed to get through the night- always RC Colas, Moonpies and usually some kind of stew that demanded a slew of unique ingredients and 2: An inventive sequence of ghosts and monsters, each bigger and scarier than the one before. Every imaginative creature concluded their tale by declaring ''If you think I'm scary, just wait till you meet BIG JOHN!''  As an eager audience, his children never really knew if BIG JOHN was going to be hugely terrifying or hilariously, tiny. Vance told the kids later that he borrowed this tale from a comedian on an old radio show and in fact, never heard the end of tale.

Vance loved golf; both the game and the philosophy behind it. He handcrafted clubs for Amy and Andy and spent countless hours with them at the driving range… But he never let them use a driver - the powerful allure of the driver was boisterous and ''useless if you couldn't putt.'' Instead, he insisted that the most important part of the game came after the drive. He believed in subtlety, accuracy, ''the feel'', measuring the distance visually, making the right choice of club, connecting it to the body and to the weather.

Golf was a subtle metaphor for human relationships. Vance bestowed these life lessons to his children. Amy often credits her father's wisdom on the course with helping her in business. ''If you can land the ball with a 7-iron a few feet from the hole, you suddenly have a seat at the table.''  Adversity will happen and sometimes you have to overlook the occasional tee-box whiff or wild hook into a tree. Power was rarely the solution. That is why driving was never part of his curriculum. Vance's lessons were about calculated accuracy and quiet confidence. Never spectacle. Golfing with their father was challenging, fun and often humbling. On the rarest occasion the kids would hear a curse word or two, but more often, it was words of wisdom.

When his children's schedules filled with sports, Vance readily set aside his own game. To Amy and Andy's friends, he was simply ''Mr. Blackwell'', ever-present at swim meets, soccer games, track events, Odyssey of the Mind competitions, concerts and art shows. Wearing mid-calf white socks, sandals and a Laser Swim Team T-shirt, he cheered for every friend, supplying extra sunscreen and encouragement. Amy and Andy could relax in knowing that they would be free from embarrassing cheering. Instead, he said, ''well that was pretty good.'' He rarely critiqued us and instead asked ''what did the coach think?''

Vance also shared many adventures with Andy through the Scouts with camp outs, hikes, floats and service projects. As a boy in Troop 104, Vance achieved the rank of Eagle Scout and was inducted as a Vigil Honor member in the Order of the Arrow. It was important to Vance that Andy share in these formative experiences. Troop 59 benefited from his backcountry knowledge and his love of nature's playground. He often shared quiet insights, like how leadership was not about being the first to reach the trail's end, but about being the last to ensure everyone made it safely.

Even after Andy achieved his Eagle rank, Vance remained involved in Scouts, serving on advancement boards and reconnecting with the Scouts from his own childhood. He continued to attend their annual homecomings, most of which were planned around food and featured at least one retelling of The Legend of the Cooper Stake - a tale whose details have grown both more mysterious and more epic over time.

The Legend of the Cooper Stake began along the South Fork of the Spring River near Hardy, Arkansas. Here, Vance attended and later served as a staff member at Cedar Valley Boy Scout Camp. Eventually, Cooper Properties set their sights on the land as the site of a new development called Cherokee Village. Cooper wanted to begin surveying and preparing the land for roads and construction while the Scouts held their final summer camp on the land.

As the Scouts prepared for one final farewell to a land that had given them so many cherished memories, tensions boiled over as wooden survey markers began to stake out the Cooper build on the Order of the Arrow grounds. Soon to be referred to as ''Cooper Stakes'', these were seen as a blight on ceremonial land. Vance and the other Scouts and staff began gathering as many Cooper Stakes as they could find, undoing the work Cooper laid out. Stacking the stakes into a towering pyre with one stake pointed to the sky, the Scouts set ablaze the rebellious pile of wood and sent off their beloved camp in an act of both reverence and resistance.

The camp would later relocate to Vilonia, Arkansas. Vance helped rebuild and improve the new site, carrying forward the spirit of Old Cedar Valley. But memories weren't the only thing that came from the original camp, a truckload of Cooper Stakes made the journey too. One fire after another, a stake was placed in the center of each blaze, pointed skyward and just a little to the left. Over time, these stakes were replaced by symbolic sticks.

Obituary Provided By:
Roller-Chenal Funeral Home
13801 Chenal Parkway
Little Rock, AR  72211
www.rollerfuneralhomes.com