Edward (Ned) Simpson DeChant, 91 of Jasper, died at NARMC on Friday, September 20, 2013. He was born July 26, 1922 and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had a long and meaningful life.

He joined the Navy and was commissioned as an Ensign. He served on an LCI (G) 406 in the South Pacific. He was part of the invasion at Peleliu Islands where he was wounded by shrapnel and earned the Purple Heart. He became a Lieutenant JG and an Executive Officer in charge of navigation. He navigated all the way from the Philippines to Staten Island, New York where the ship was decommissioned.

He then married Nancy Alice Bowen in 1946 and finished college on the GI Bill and graduated from the Lancaster Theological Seminary in 1951. He served 2 churches in Pennsylvania and was invited to Michigan to start a new church, which he did. After 24 years, he took a job with the State of Michigan as an Employment Counselor. Ned and Nancy retired in Arkansas to live comfortably. He served on the Board of Directors for several agencies including the Newton County Resource Council and was instrumental in establishing the Newton County Library as we know it today.

He is survived by his sister, Marjorie Hickman of Berlin, Maryland: wife, Nancy DeChant; 5 children, Ann and her husband, Gene, Peter and his wife, Linda, Susan, Babs and Martha; grandchildren, Shawn and Colin McMillan, Jesse Ball, Katie Spencer, Jessica DeChant, and Shawn and Shannon Mancogna: and 6 great-grandchildren.

A celebration of his life was held at Coffman Funeral Home in Jasper, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2013.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Ned's memory to the Newton County Library, HCR 31, Box 8, Jasper, AR 72641