Richard Lister Calleton

Dr. Richard L. Calleton ("Pudge" or "Uncle Pudgie" to his extended family) died on March 21, 2025. The younger son of Edward J. and Dorothy Dewey Calleton, he was born on April 12, 1941 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, attended Leonia New Jersey Public Schools, Blair Academy, LSU, and the University of Arkansas Medical School. He also received a Master's degree in Forest Products Technology from LSU. He was a devoted supporter of LSU watching as many of their baseball and football games as possible. A Sergeant in the U.S. Army during the Viet Nam war, he served as a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne and then as a Green Beret medic in Laos. Active in Scouting, he was an Eagle Scout, camp doctor and Scout leader. For his services to Scouting he was awarded the Silver Beaver. As an emergency room doctor, he practiced in Hot Springs, Mena, and Berryville, with stints as a family practitioner in Glenwood and Mena. He was an accomplished and compassionate physician, often sitting with terminally ill patients in the evening to comfort them. His skills as an ER doctor garnered offers of more lucrative practices in larger cities, but he preferred the open spaces of the countryside, particularly where he could fly fish (frequently with his wife or son and preferably on the San Juan River in New Mexico). Dr. Calleton is survived by his wife, Janice, his daughter Kelly (David) Healy, his son Jed (Juliet), his three grandchildren: Spencer and Ava Healy, and Natalie Calleton; his brother Ted (Kathy), four nephews and nieces, five grandnephews and grandnieces and one great-grandnephew. He was predeceased by his first wife, Jon Anna Walsworth Calleton. A celebration of Dr. Calleton's life will be held on June 19, 2025 at the Avalon Botanical Garden in Mena from 3 to 5 PM. A lover of dogs, birds and other animals, he had dogs as constant companions – at one time he had a dozen labs, drahthaars and various other dogs and even a visiting racoon. He once had a prosthetic leg fitted to a beloved black lab who lost his leg under a truck wheel. In recognition of this love, donations in Dr, Calleton's memory may be made to the Humane Society of the Ouachitas, 366 Polk Road 50, Mena AR 71953. To plant a beautiful memorial tree in memory of Richard, please visit our Tree Store.