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Notable deaths in 2006.

Article Excerpt
January

Woodson W. "Bill" Bassett, 79, founding partner of the Bassett Law Firm in Fayetteville, died of prostate cancer Jan. 10. The Bassett firm is one of the largest firms in northwest Arkansas.

David Wall, 38, also a partner at the Bassett Law Firm, was also found dead Jan. 10 of an apparent heart attack.

Ralph A. "Pat" Walsh, 73, the larger-than-life, plain-spoken media consultant who managed radio station KAAY, Little Rock's "Mighty 1090," in its glory days, died Jan. 21 after a year-long hospital stay related to an infection in his knee. Walsh entered the advertising business in 1957, moved into radio sales in 1959 and managed KAAY-AM from 1964-76, during which time it was the market's No. 1 radio station and a nighttime fixture from Cuba to the Hudson Bay.

February

Roland S. Boreham Jr., 81, former CEO of Baldor Electric Co., died Feb. 5. Boreham took over the electric motor manufacturer in 1978. He also was known for his civic work in Fort Smith, especially with the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and Sparks Hospital. He was inducted into the University of Arkansas' Business Hall of Fame in 2002.

Jerry Bookout, 72, died Feb. 21 of cancer of the lymph nodes. A Democrat from Jonesboro, Bookout began his public service in the Arkansas Legislature in 1962 as a state representative. He became a state senator in 1973 and retired in 1994. He re-entered public service in 2003, again as a state senator representing District 14 in Craighead County.

March

Fred Wulfekuhler, 87, longtime publisher of the Paragould Daily Press, died March 4 at Jefferson Regional Medical Center at Pine Bluff after a long illness. He ran the newspaper, winning numerous state and national awards for editorial excellence, from 1959 until he sold it in 1989 to the Paxton Media Group.

Earl Alexander Gladden, 72, founder and former president and CEO of Delta Dental of Arkansas Inc., died March 18 at his home in Tulsa from emphysema and complications from a stroke. Gladden started Delta Dental, now the state's largest dental insurance carrier, in North Little Rock in 1982.

Cone Magie, 81, longtime publisher of the Cabot Star-Herald and other publications, died March 27 at Hot Springs. A former president of the Arkansas Press Association, Magie's other newspapers included the Carlisle Independent, the Lonoke Democrat, the Sherwood Voice and the Jacksonville Patriot.

Jim Pledger, 68, former president and general manager of the Arkansas State Fair & Livestock Show, died March 30 at Danville. Pledger, who retired from the fair last spring, had held...