Stacy Ann (Ross) Oates

Stacy Ann Ross Oates was born February 19, 1969 to the late Johnny-Paul Ross and Joyce Ross Freeman at Baptist Health Medical Center in Stuttgart, Arkansas. She passed away in her home on the night of January 25, 2026 in England, Arkansas.

Stacy lived a life filled with love, light, and creativity. If she wasn't taking care of her children or grandchildren, she was singing and dancing around the house, drawing, crocheting, or at Riceland Foods, where she worked for over 27 years.

Stacy graduated from Stuttgart High School in May 1987. She lived in Germany for a while, then in Texas, and eventually returned to her hometown of Stuttgart, Arkansas, where she was surrounded by the love and comfort of her family, who helped her back on her feet.

Stacy was one of eight siblings: five girls and three boys. Leroy Ross was the oldest of the boys, followed by Wayne Utsey and Shawn Ross. Stacy was the youngest of the girls with Bertha “Labybug” Ross being the eldest, followed by Barbara Ross Marshall, Heike Ross Hecht, and Nancy Ross Tatum.

Stacy was welcomed into heaven by her four grandparents Robert & Mary Ross and Eugene “Gene” & Maddie-Pearl Settles; her parents Joyce Freeman and Johnny Paul Ross; and her four aunts Wilma Bradford, Marylene “MaeMae” Dabner, Dorothy Qualls, and Roxie Luckett.

She leaves behind her cherished memory to her beloved siblings; her children Tykiana “Ty” Shavers and David “DJ” Burks; her grandchildren Chandler “King” Sims and Kaisley Marie “Kae” Sims; her five aunts; and a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins. 

Beginning in 1997, Stacy started her own family with the birth of her children “Ty” with Tyrone Shavers and “DJ” with David L. Burks. For a while, she and her children lived with her grandmother, Maddie-Pearl, and her mother, Joyce, until they themselves passed away in 2006 and 2007, respectively. She continued raising her children with the support of the Travelers Rest Missionary Baptist Church community, her blood family, as well as her closest friends known as her “sisters” and “brothers” to Ty and DJ. These included the late Kay Walker, who was also the kids’ godmother, Yolonda Guydon, George Davis, Sharon Roberts, Joyce Robinson-Reed, Martha Dunlap, and the late Pam Davis and Michaael Roberts.

John 16:12 - “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

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