Clover Longinotti Orfanos

Celebrating the life of Clover Longinotti~Orfanos (April 7, 1937-June 20, 2025) Clover Longinotti Orfanos, 88, transitioned to her eternal home on June 20, 2025 after a decade long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. She faced the challenges of her disease the same way she lived her life, with great courage, dignity, humor and her typical level of spunk. Born in Oklahoma City as Clover Ann Shipp, she moved with her mother and older sister to Hot Springs in 1947. She loved her time cheerleading and singing alto (tenor if needed) in the Troubadour Choir as a member of the Hot Springs High School class of 1955. She married her first husband and father of her three children, R. Stephen Longinotti, soon after graduation. Clover enjoyed a professional life as a dental assistant for Dr. Martin Lax, a medical secretary in the Pathology practice of Dr’s Lee and Knight and the office manager for Dr. Devi Jayaraman. Clover also put her organizational and administrative talents to good use while volunteering to organize multiple class reunions, participating on the St. Luke’s vestry board, and serving for many years as secretary for the local Ducks Unlimited Chapter. Clover had a life-long love of music that she passed on to all her children. Her passion for classical music, opera and musical theater resulted in trips around the U.S. to see her favorite tenors (Luciano Pavarotti and Placido Domingo) as well as a long list of operas and musical theater performances. She was a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, where she participated in the choir and handbell choir. She adored her experience of performing at Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral on Arkansas Day. St. Luke’s continued to be her spiritual anchor until the progression of her disease limited her ability to contribute. Clover loved nature, spending hour upon hour birdwatching and devoting loving care to a constant procession of much-beloved household pets (including teaching a parakeet to bow its head in prayer while the family said grace). She was also a voracious reader and a grammar perfectionist who enjoyed her morning ritual of coffee and crossword puzzles (in pen). Clover was preceded in death by her parents, Claude and Clover Gibson; her sister, Sandra Carlisle; her first husband and father of her three children, R. Stephen Longinotti Sr. and her great nephew, Christopher Marshall Ernst. Her second husband John A. Orfanos, who gave her another chance at love, also preceded her in death. She is survived by her daughter, Lee Ann Longinotti (Scott Crawley); her son, R. Stephen Longinotti, Jr. (Lisa); her son James David Longinotti (Regina); her grandchildren, Stephen Terrill Longinotti (Leah), David Andrew Longinotti (Andrea), Samantha Lynn Longinotti, and James Gibson Longinotti; her great grandchildren, David Elias Longinotti and Oliver Clay Longinotti; and numerous nieces and nephews. The family would like to express their deepest gratitude to Tabita and Samuel Malan of Fortress Living, and to Lori, Meghan, Shonda and the entire staff at Dierksen Hospice. They are angels on earth. A celebration of Clover’s life will be held at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 228 Spring Street, Hot Springs, AR, 71901 at 11:00 a.m. Monday, June 30, 2025. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to Dierksen Hospice’s Journey Health Foundation (https://www.dierksenhospice.com/make_a_donation.php)

Clover Longinotti Orfanos

April 7, 1937 - June 20, 2025