Homer B Makinson

Homer B Makinson

Rogers – Homer B Makinson, 94, died August 20, 2025 at Mercy Hospital with friends and family by his side.

Born on May 18, 1931 in Beedeville, Arkansas, he was the son of Homer E Makinson and Buna Little Makinson.

Homer grew up in Beedeville under the loving care of his maternal aunt & uncle, Lena & Hamilton King Little who raised him as their own, because his mother tragically passed when he was only 4 hours old.

A 1949 graduate of Beedeville High School, Mr. Makinson enlisted in the US Navy and served his country during the Korean War. He was a "Tin Can Sailor" and served on both the USS Perkins and the USS Pickaway as a radar operator.

On July 20, 1950, Homer married the love of his life, Ernestine Joy King, at her family home in Newport. They built a wonderful life together living in Arkansas, Missouri and Tennessee while he was an Assistant Manager for Sterling Stores, Inc. Homer then found work with General Motors (GM), and the family moved to Michigan, living in Flint for about 5 years before building a house on ten acres in Holly and living there for over 25 years. They used to grow a large garden in the summers and Homer would plow driveways and roads for neighbors in the winter. They also had a cabin cruiser boat on Lake Huron in Michigan and a pontoon boat on Beaver Lake in Arkansas. In 1985, after working for 30 years, Homer retired from GM.

Upon retirement, Mr. & Mrs. Makinson returned to Arkansas. They settled in Rogers where they lived for about 30 years until Ernestine's passing in 2014.

Homer was a very devout Christian man. While in Rogers, he and Ernestine belonged to the Bella Vista Church of Christ. For the last several years, Homer had been an active member at Cave Springs Church of Christ.

Homer enjoyed camping and traveling. He once said that his goal was to KOA his way across the country. His children have fond memories of camping, as well as visiting about 45 of the 50 states in America.

In his years in Michigan, Mr. Makinson was a talented lapidary artist. He enjoyed doing this with Ernestine, and they made some very beautiful jewelry.

In his years in Arkansas, Homer and Ernestine sold tee shirts at craft fairs. They enjoyed doing this because they were able to travel all throughout the South for over ten years.

Because of his love of driving and traveling, at age 90 Homer began driving for Enterprise Car rentals. It is through this experience that he connected with fellow Veterans and began seeing them at regular breakfast meetings.

Homer never met a stranger as he could talk to anyone about anything, even having nicknames for all the servers at his favorite restaurants that he frequented on a regular basis.

Most of all, Homer was a family man. He loved having his children and grandchildren around him. Homer would travel from Arkansas to Michigan to visit his son Tony and his family, if it wasn't during wintertime.

In addition to his parents, Homer was preceded in death by his wife of 64 years, Ernestine; his brothers Austin and Milton, and his sister, Neva. He is survived by his son Anthony (Tony) and wife Kellie of Michigan; daughter Myra (Lynn) and husband Scott of Rogers, Arkansas; his grandchildren Ashley, Jessica and husband Ben, and Joshua, his great-grandchildren Kylie, Everlie and Garland, and many nieces and nephews living in Arkansas, California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York and Texas.

The family will receive loved ones on Thursday, September 4 from 10:00-11:00 am at the Benton County Funeral Home in Rogers. A graveside funeral is planned for 1:30pm at Fayetteville National Cemetery in Fayetteville, with private family burial immediately afterward.

Mr. Makinson's wish was to have people make donations to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.