Milanne Smith Sundell

Milanne Michael Smith Sundell, age 81, of Little Rock, Arkansas, died at her home on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, surrounded by her family. She was born October 9, 1943, in Seymour, Indiana to the late George and Harriett Smith. 

She worked at many different jobs over the years, always hard and well. She taught English with the Peace Corps,1965-67, in Tunisia, North Africa. She is dearly remembered as a loving homemaker to her husband, their three sons, and their many friends.

Milanne graduated from Long Beach High School on the Mississippi Gulf Coast in 1961 and from Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1965. She lived in Monticello, Arkansas, 1980-2006, where the boys grew up and where her husband taught Botany and Biology at the University of Arkansas. They retired to Little Rock in 2007.

Milanne is survived by her husband of 53 years, Eric Gordon Sundell––the couple met in Tunisia on a desert camel trip out of Douz; three sons, six grandchildren, and one bonus grandson: Michael Gibbons Sundell (Arianna Chronopoulou, Chloe) of Rome, Italy; Jack Gordon Sundell (Corri Bristow-Sundell, Ethan Patterson, Billy and Benji) and Joe Walsh Sundell (Annemarie, Maggie, Daniel, Catherine) of Little Rock; and sister Margaret, niece Anne, and nephews Bob and George, of Birmingham, Alabama. 

We miss her loving heart, her brilliant, generous, never-selfish mind with that extraordinary memory, her happy spirit. “A merry heart does good like a medicine.” 

A gathering is planned for the spring.

 Instead of flowers, please send contributions to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital.

Arrangements by Arkansas Cremation, 10515 W Markham St, Suite B1, Little Rock, Arkansas 72205. If you would like to leave a message of condolence to the family, you may do so using the Guestbook section.

www.arkansascremation.com