Meredith Estelle Wootton Nisbet

Meredith Estelle Wootton Nisbet, 79, passed away April 20th, 2025.

Meredith was born November 14, 1945 in Siloam Springs, Arkansas to her late mother, Dorothy Evelyn Boren Wootton, a music teacher, and father, Charles Franklin Wootton, a musician and college professor. The Wootton family would live in Arkansas for a good number of years before then going on to live in several different states as Meredith grew older, such as Missouri, Texas, and Florida, due to Charles’s job.

An apt student, Meredith attended several institutions after high school: she earned bachelor’s degrees in music and music education from Howard Payne University, a master’s degree in music theory from the University of Arkansas, and a doctorate in music composition from the University of Oklahoma. She later pursued additional education in nursing and child counseling at Henderson State University, and took courses in English and botany at Ouachita Baptist University.

In 1979, Meredith would meet her husband, Alex Richard Nisbet, at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. Meredith was studying violin for her masters degree and playing as a violinist in the university’s summer orchestra, whilst Alex was attending the university for classes in chemical engineering and played as a cellist for the ensemble.

Meredith and Alex were then engaged to be married three months later and were married on May 22nd, 1980, finding their home together in Arkadelphia, Arkansas shortly thereafter. Several years later in 1987, Alex and Meredith went on to adopt their son, Carl Erwin Alexander Nisbet (now Karl Ray Kratzer), and in 1992, their daughter, Audrey Ruth Evelyn Nisbet.

Meredith was a devoted wife, mother, musician, and teacher. A person of deep faith, she shared her time and talents with several churches in Arkadelphia, including First Baptist Church, First Presbyterian Church, and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Services will be held June 14th at 2p.m., at the First Presbyterian Church in Arkadelphia, AR.

Arrangements by Smith Family Funeral Home, 517 Clay Street, Arkadelphia, AR 71923.  www.smithfamilycares.com