of Conway, AR

December 24, 1939 - February 25, 2023

Gary Allen DuVall, 83, of Conway, Arkansas passed away Saturday, February 25, 2023 surrounded by his three loving daughters and a hospice comfort cat named Vanessa. In true Gary style, he waited until all three of his daughters fell asleep in his room before quietly tip-toeing home to Jesus.

Gary was born December 24, 1939 in Glendale, CA to Grady and Eleanor (Poe) DuVall. He has finally been reunited with his mother, whom he lost to cancer when he was only 7 years old. He spoke of his mother often throughout his life, as his heart remained broken over her loss. He is also preceded in death by his father, Grady and stepmother, Ruth DuVall, who were blessed to have lived long, productive lives and were always positive influences in Gary's life. In addition, Gary is joined by his best buddy and companion, Cookie the collie dog, who is probably playing a game of fetch with him about now.

When he was 13, Gary left his picturesque life by the ocean, along with all of his endeared Poe cousins and moved from California to Tull, AR with his dad and sister. His new home was on his grandparents' working farm, which was quite a transition from the beach life he had known. Gary's life was being rewritten. He was now on a homestead where his grandparents grew cotton, a variety of vegetables and raised livestock and he was put to work! It was a journey into the unknown. He began attending a country school at Bauxite versus the city school he once knew and quickly earned the nickname "Hollywood" because of his Tinseltown roots. At his new school, Gary began to soar in everything. He was in all varsity sports, was captain of the basketball team, president of the Beta Club, a member of the student senate and a delegate to Boys State. In 1957, Gary graduated from Bauxite High School.

It seems a love of sports circulated through Gary's veins starting at a young age, but baseball was his first true love. He didn't just want to watch baseball. He wanted to LIVE baseball. In 1952, at Williamsport, PA, this dream came to fruition when he became the first player from Bauxite, on the first Arkansas team (Little Rock All Stars), to play in the Little League World Series. Later, as a college freshman, he even served a short stint on the Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team, but quit so he could focus on his grades. He remained an avid Razorback fan and whether he was watching a game live from the stadium or on television, his big blue eyes remained glued to the game and his whooping and bellowing could be heard for miles.

Gary had a true servant's heart and dedicated his entire adult life to helping the less fortunate. He always said this passion for serving others was sparked by the death of his mother as a young boy and the many hardships that evolved afterwards. He was eventually motivated to make social work his career choice when the social work director at the U of A noticed his compassionate spirit and convinced him to change his major. In Gary's own words, he said, "I truly felt God had placed me on this path, the path of helping others who were in distress or needed positive guidance." Gary went on to earn his bachelor's degree in social work from the University of Arkansas. After college, his career launched when he became the first street gang worker in Memphis, TN, where he worked with troubled youths for 4 years and began to start his own family. He next became a rehabilitation counselor for the Conway Rehab Facility for 17 years. During this time, he obtained his master's degree in counseling from the University of Central Arkansas in Conway, then went on to become the coordinator for Conway Human Development Center's Continuum of Services Outreach Program, where he supervised Continuum staff and served as a counselor for troubled children, youth, adults and families in Faulkner and neighboring counties until his retirement in 2002.

Throughout his career and beyond, Gary was well known in the community for his gentle spirit, kind heart and gifted counseling skills. His accomplishments in the social work/counseling field were vast. He had an unending number of certifications, citations and commendations and was a member of so many boards, committees, advocacy groups, etc., that they are impossible to name. Additionally, he was the recipient of more awards than anyone can cite. However, there are four very prestigious awards he won that should not go unmentioned because they are major highlights in his career. Gary received the following: National Counselor of the Year and National Humanitarian and Caring Person Awards by the American Counseling Association at the American Counseling Association World Conference in Orlando, FL; Regional Counselor of the Year (5 states: Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Louisiana), sponsored by National Rehabilitation Association; Counselor of the Year for Arkansas, sponsored by the National Rehabilitation Counseling Association and Arkansas Volunteer Activist, sponsored by Dillard's Department Store and Germain Monteil.

Gary's focus in his later years was to continue to help the unfortunate on a volunteer basis and he did so until he became unable.

Left to cherish his memory are his loving family, daughters and sons-in-laws, Melinda and Al Fawcett, Amanda and Rusty Hawkins and Jennifer and Randy Ethridge; sister and brother-in-law, DeAnne and Shorty Wilmoth; grandchildren, Jordan (Amelia) Ahne, JoLynn (Jordan) Moix, Catherine (Daniel) Andrews, Bethany (Justin) Hamm, Jacob (Stacy) Owens, Lance (Rebecca) Hawkins; 13 great-grandchildren; numerous other friends and family and the hundreds of lives Gary touched and helped heal during his life's work.

A visitation will be held from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at Roller-McNutt Funeral Home in Conway. Funeral Services will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 2, 2023 at Roller McNutt-Conway, with burial following at Ebenezer Cemetery, 8241 State Highway 190 N, Tull, AR.

Instead of flowers, Gary would love for you to do an unexpected, unsolicited act of kindness for anyone who is troubled or suffering. Memorial contributions can also be made in his honor to Chi Alpha SAU at https://www.chialphasau.com/

Obituary Provided By:
Roller-McNutt Funeral Home
650 Central Landing Blvd.
Conway, AR  72032
www.rollerfuneralhomes.com