Louie C. “Lou” Cockmon Jr. passed away on August 1, 2026, at age 95. Lou was born in Little Rock, Arkansas on May 25, 1931, to Louie C. Cockmon Sr. and Agnes Anna Putsche Cockmon. He was predeceased by his beloved wife of 70 years, Elaine, his parents, by his four sisters and spouses, Marguerite Cockmon, Dorothy Stein and husband Conrad, Mildred White and husband Harry, and Jo Ann Wells and husband Bill; and by his son-in-law Leon Brown.

He is survived by his six children, Janis Cockmon of Little Rock, Ron Cockmon (Kathy) of Forrest City, Karen Brown of Mayflower, Greg Cockmon (Debbie) of Little Rock, Lisa Diggs (Bill) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Julia Cockmon of Little Rock; seven grandchildren: Annie Brown, Leslie Cockmon; Amber and Michael Cockmon; Mikayla, Ashton, and Tristan Diggs, two great-grandchildren; Haisley Sutton, Gabriel Perez, and Willow Alshareef; and several very special nieces and nephews and their families.

Lou, or “L.C.”, grew up in Little Rock, graduated from what was then Little Rock High School, attended Little Rock Junior College, and joined the U.S. Air Force in 1951 during the Korean War. He and Elaine Louise Langlow of Tacoma, Washington met in San Francisco near where he was stationed, fell in love, and were married there in West Portal Lutheran Church soon after his discharge in 1955.

They later returned to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, where Elaine worked on campus and Lou studied for his 1957 Civil Engineering degree. In that year, he became one of six full-time employees of the newly staffed Arkansas Water Pollution Control Commission, the very early predecessor to the current Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality. Lou was Assistant Director of the developing agency when he left in 1971. During his time with the agency, he attended and received a master’s degree from Harvard University. In 1971 he went to work as an Environmental Engineer for the Little Rock District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as Chief of the Permits, later Regulatory, Branch and retired from that agency in1996. He was a registered Professional Engineer and member of several environmental organizations, as well as the Arkansas Academy of Civil Engineers. In 1999 he was inducted into the District’s Gallery of Distinguished Employees. In 2016 he was inducted into the Arkansas River Historical Society’s Hall of Fame for his contributions to environmental work on the Arkansas River during his career. He was always surrounded by great fellow employees throughout his career who he always credited as the real backbone and reason for anything he ever accomplished on the job.

Lou was a charter and active member of Christ Lutheran Church (now Christ Little Rock), served many years as Elder and officer there and prior to that at First Lutheran Church. He took the greatest pride, joy, and inspiration from his wonderful and loving family and time spent with them throughout his life. He had many good friends, some of whom he worked with, and fished, hunted, and played cards with for many years, and was a dedicated lifelong Razorback fan. He loved country music, camping, especially with family, and the outdoors. He did volunteer work at Pinnacle Park and with the Ozark Society. He was a certified Special Olympics Coach, coaching his daughter Julia and others on their special team “The Winners” for several years. He was a poet of sorts and wrote humorous “odes” for special people and occasions. Genealogy was a favorite hobby and as the family historian, spent many hours pursuing the family tree and was a member of the Saline County Historical Society. The Cockmon family came to the central Arkansas area in the early 1850’s and the Putsche family in the 1870’s, providing an extensive family history before and since that time.

Memorials in memory of Lou may be made to Christ Little Rock Church, Pulaski County Humane Society, Arkansas Down Syndrome Association, and Access Group of Little Rock.

Visitation for Lou will begin at 10:00 a.m. Monday August 10, 2026, followed by the 11:00 a.m. service at Christ Little Rock Church, 315 S. Hughes in Little Rock.