06/11/2026
Glenda Zell Bittle Koen
Graveside Service
Sunday, June 14, 2026
2:00 PM
Cleburne County Memorial Gardens
Glenda Zell Bittle Koen, 85, was born into eternity on June 10, 2026, at her home in Mountain Home, Arkansas.
She was born into this life on June 3, 1941, in Brownsville, Arkansas, to William Easel Bittle and Gracie Donahue Bittle. She was the youngest daughter of four little girls born in five years. She graduated from West Side High School in 1959 as class Valedictorian. Following that, she moved to Little Rock to attend nursing school, but did not finish because on April 16, 1960, she eloped with the love of her life to Miami, Oklahoma, to get married. From there, they embarked on a life of adventure, travel, moving frequently, football, and two little daughters.
Throughout her lifetime, she had many interests. These included painting, sculpting, writing poetry, and everything computers. Their travels included almost every state in the U.S.A., from coast to coast. She loved baking her renowned cream pies, which everyone begged for at Christmas, spending hours in the most gorgeous flowerbeds ever, and dancing in the living room to “rock n roll” with her little girls. She was a lover of music and especially loved Neil Diamond, ABBA, and Hootie and the Blowfish who she renamed Hootie and the Blowflies. She was so funny like that. She kept her family laughing all her life, and they will be telling these stories forever.
Having been married to a career football coach and professional football scout, she, too, spent most of her career in education. She was an administrative assistant at multiple schools and the DeQueen/Mena Coop, taught remedial reading at Clinton Middle School, worked in the library at Lake Hamilton Middle School, and was a Study Hall teacher at DeSoto School and Jefferson Preparatory Academy. She also trained as a dental assistant and worked at that for several years before going to college for computers and working at DeQueen High School where she was involved in piloting the Arkansas State Education APSCN System. She was an administrative assistant there at DeQueen High School. She retired in 1999 and enjoyed staying at home, creating beautiful flower beds, studying her Bible, and just having time for her own endeavors.
Family was the center of her existence, her children and later her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but never doubt that the most important thing in her life was her relationship with her precious William.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded into eternity and welcomed by two sisters, Easelene Bittle Cordova and Dean Bittle Cothern; one niece, Deborah Grace Cordova Wells; three nephews, Boyd Donohue Cordova, Philip Bittle Cordova, Jeffrey David Scott, and brother-in-law, Lynn Cothren.
She left behind to adore her memory, her husband of 66 years of the home, William “Bill” David Koen, daughters, Nancy Parish (Andy) of Mountain Home, AR, and Jennifer Jaszczak (Charles) of Fayetteville, AR; 1 sister Lavelle McGary (Pat) of Heber Springs; Brothers-in-law Bob Cordova and Carl Koen both of Little Rock; grandchildren, Jeremy Koen of Forsyth, MO, and Whitney Evans of Mountain Home, AR; step grands, Amanda Sowell (Chris) of Shirley, AR, Jared Parish (Lindsey) of Clinton, AR, and Chance Parish (Taylor) of Ward, AR; great-grands; Kenzie Goodwin (Taylor), Savannah Koen, Sophia Koen, Jordan Corbett, Brooks Evans, Ezlyn Evans, Calvin Evans, Corbin Evans; great-great-grands, Clay Goodwin and River Goodwin.
