Sue Carpenter

Sue Ellen Hubbard Conder Carpenter, 79, of Little Rock, passed away Saturday, February 4, 2017 at Hospice Home Care in Little Rock. She was born May 10, 1937 in Atkins to Fred and Una Bolin Hubbard.
Sue came to Little Rock on June 10, 1957 and attended Capital City Business School.
She would tell you that she was so country that when she and her friend Dana came to Little Rock, they had to figure out which one of them was going to dial the phone and which one was going to do the talking. She also would share the story how she was so country that one day she rode a city bus around the whole route not knowing she had missed her stop and the bus driver was kind enough to let her ride back around to the stop.
After graduating from business school, she went to work for the Little Rock Police Department where she worked for several years.
She met Lowell Conder in October 1966 at the Sweden Creme in downtown Little Rock. And after a short courtship, the two were married March 3, 1967.
Sometime during their courtship, the two of them came to know the Lord as their personal Savior and joined Judson Memorial Missionary Baptist Church on
March 5, 1967 and were baptized later that summer in Lake Des Arc.
Lowell had a son Terry from a previous marriage and the three of them welcomed a baby girl, Michelle Ann Conder on October 26, 1970. Sue left the workforce to be a stay-at-home mom. She returned to the workforce in mid-1980.
Sue and Lowell enjoyed a great life together for twenty-six years until his untimely death in August 1993.
A about a year and a half later in February 1995 she was introduced to Carl Carpenter at the Tuesday Night Domino Group at Faith Baptist church and the two were married later that year on December 23, 1995. They enjoyed a great life together for nineteen years until his passing in March 2015.
May 21, 2013 was the day she was told those four breath-taking words: "You have lung cancer." Once the initial shock wore off and her doctor said, "I can't cure you, but I can treat you", she had a determination to fight this disease to the bitter end. And that she did. She never let the fact that she had cancer slow her down or change her outlook on life. Dr. Sneed would often tell her: "you're no wimp, Mrs. Carpenter!" She was always willing to do anything and everything in order to have a few more days, weeks, months, and years with her family. In fact, when she was told right before Thanksgiving this past year that the cancer had spread to her brain, she was ready and willing to take on that battle as well.
However, on December 21, 2016 she began a new journey toward her heavenly home. After several weeks of being treated for pneumonia at Baptist Health hospital, her team of doctors all agreed that it was time for Hospice.
She wasn't quite ready for that news, but being the strong woman she was, she accepted it. So on January 12, 2017 she entered the Hospice Home Care facility in Little Rock.
And just a little over three weeks later, with her daughter, son-in-law, close friends, and a fantastic nurse, Patti gathered around her bedside, Sue took her last breath here and her first breath in heaven.

Sue was someone who you couldn't help but love; once you met her you knew she was quite a character. She was always being funny, witty, and saying things that would catch you off guard. She loved shopping, going on trips with friends, and spending time with her family.
And from that little country girl that hardly knew how to use a phone, she developed one real hobby: talking on the phone. She never mastered the art of texting, but she was a master when it came to talking on the phone.
She was a great mother, sister, and friend and will be greatly missed among her family and friends.
She is survived by two brothers Bob and Emmett Hubbard; her daughter Michelle McLelland (John); a son Terry Conder (Misty); grandchildren, Samuel and Sarah McLelland and Devon and Cason Conder; four step-daughters Shelia Kalinowski, Marilyn Boykin (Bo), Margaret McLaughlin (Phil) and Carlene Mueller (Art); seven step-grandchildren and six step-great grandchildren; and her favorite granddog, Sassy.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband and father of her children Lowell Conder; her second husband Carl Carpenter, her four brothers, H.H. Hubbard, Wallace Hubbard, Billy H. Hubbard, Jack Hubbard, and three sisters, Lois Lee Keener, Patti Rozzell, and Ida "Jo" Sand.
She was a member of Faith Baptist church in North Little Rock where she was a member of the Fellowship Sunday School class whom she loved dearly.
Visitation will be Thursday, February 9, 2017 from 6:00-8:00pm at Smith-North Little Rock Funeral Home with a celebration of her life on Friday, February 10, 2017 at 10:00 am., at Faith Baptist Church, 109 Tanglewood Dr., North Little Rock. Burial will follow at Rest Hills Memorial Park in Sherwood.
A special thank you to her doctors Dr. Thomas Sneed and Dr. Eyad Abochale, CARTI staff, Hospice Home Care staff and to her "posse" Fran Smith and Zanette Cato who helped her make this journey from this life to her eternal home with great courage and tenacity.
Memorials may be made to Carti Cancer Center.
Online obituary at www.SmithFamilyCares.com .