Kenny Quarles

Kenny Quarles was born June 11, 1949, in Dalark, Arkansas. His mother Bennie Jean Quarles taught her sons the value of hard work. He accepted Christ at a young age and was a lifelong member of Mt. Olive AME Church.

He graduated from Sparkman Training School in 1967, where he excelled in sports. He loved Baseball and played sandlot baseball for the Dalark Dodgers. He was a simple man who enjoyed the simple pleasures that life offered.

Kenny was a longtime employee of Georgia Pacific, now International Paper where he retired after thirty-eight years of dedicated service to the company. His interests included fishing and repairing lawnmowers. He enjoyed family get-togethers and being with his GP family.

Kenny quietly passed from this life on Friday, March 22, 2024, at Southern Trace Rehabilitation and Care Center in Bryant, Arkansas. He was preceded in death by his mother, Bennie Jean Quarles (June 10, 1926 - May 17, 2011); his brothers, Larry Quarles and Stanley Dean “Jim” Quarles (June 08, 1947 - July 27, 2019) and Carl Erskine Quarles, Sr. (January 28, 1958 - November 26, 2021).

He leaves his wife, Oleater Quarles of Sparkman; his sons, Kentrell (Delisha) Steed of Louisville, KY, and Kendall Quarles of Arkadelphia, AR; two grandchildren, Bryson Steed, and Garrett Steed; two brothers, Robert (Flora) Starks of St. Louis, MO and Ronald Quarles of Dalark, AR. He also leaves two sisters-in-law, Gearnis Quarles, Charlotte Quarles, and Bobbie Bryant; brothers-in-law, Sammy Whitaker, Mike Whitaker, Henry Charles Whitaker, Courtney Reed, and Haja Newborn; an aunt, Shevie Quarles, and his mother-in-law, Geneva Whitaker; his father-in-law, Charles Whitaker, as well as, special cousins, Willie Jackson and Lynn Jackson; a special brother-in-law, Carlos Whitaker; special friends, Carl “Bubba” Johnson, Kirk Jones, Troy Thomas and a host of nieces, nephews, a special friends, Donna Whitaker and JT Mitchell, other relatives, several friends and the Georgia Pacific Family.

A celebration of his life will be shared at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Greater Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church, with Rev. R. L. Wesley, Jr., eulogist. The interment will be at Houston-Turner Cemetery in Dalark, Arkansas.

Visitation will be from noon until 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 5, 2024, with the family hour from 6:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Keon Starks, Jason Bullock, Carlos Whitaker, CJ Quarles, Nick Quarles, and Randy Quarles, Jr., will serve as active pallbearers. Honorable to mention are Randy Quarles, Sr., Bobby Neal, Lynn Jackson, Ray Delamar, Willie Jackson, Carl Johnson, Troy Thomas, Kirk Jones, and Herbert “Puncho” Allison.