Johnny Lee Clines

With his loving family present, Johnny Lee Clines, age 80, of Tontitown, passed away on March 2, 2025, at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Johnny was born July 12, 1944, at the family home on Shirey Bay of the Black River in Lawrence County, Arkansas, to Sidney Franklin and Ruby Margeret Clines (Counts). The doctor traveled by boat to reach the home and deliver Johnny. He was the third born of seven children.
The family sold the farm in 1952 and moved to town. They lived in Walnut Ridge for eight years before relocating to Mendota, Illinois, where Johnny graduated from Mendota High School in 1964.
After graduating from high school, he found his way back to Arkansas and followed his future wife, Carolyn Jones, to Springdale. They were married in Tahlequah, Oklahoma in 1967. Johnny and Carolyn moved back to Illinois, where Johnny started barber school in Moline in 1971. After graduating in 1972, they returned to Springdale and ultimately settled in Tontitown–where they raised their four daughters, Kimberly, Angela, Tracie, and Dana.
Many knew Johnny from his nearly 40-year career as a barber, much of which was at Clines' Barber Shop in Rogers with his brother Frankie and later at Oak Plaza Barber Shop in Fayetteville. Johnny was an accomplished self-taught musician and renowned storyteller, often recounting details of his storied life of adventures and misadventures.
Johnny was preceded in death by his beloved wife and partner of 52 years, Carolyn; father, Sidney; mother, Ruby; sisters, Martha and Carolyn; brother, Buford; and sister-in-law, Deidre (wife of Boyd).
Johnny is survived by his three brothers, Boyd, Jimmy (Susan), and Franklin (Tammy); four daughters, Kimberly Bersi (Brian), Angela Slaton, Tracie Harrop (Shannon), and Dana Clines; twelve grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. And his terrier, Angel.
A private service will be held at Bluff Cemetery in Springdale.