Elizabeth Janna Vantwuyver Stapleton was called home to be with the Lord on July 18, 2026. Born on June 24, 1962, in Denver, Colorado, to Martha Maude and William Vantwuyver Sr., Elizabeth grew up as one of seven children in the Ozarks. As a teenager, she helped her parents raise and train dogs and worked on the family farm. In school, she was very involved in FFA and the yearbook club. As an adult, Elizabeth joined the American Red Cross Armed Forces Emergency Services (AFES), serving for several years in multiple foreign countries, setting up facilities and training volunteers in conjunction with the military. Early in life, Elizabeth attended Missouri State University, where she studied medical technology and pre-medicine. She became a registered nurse and later devoted her career to caring for geriatric patients in local nursing homes.

Elizabeth was also an ordained pastor and was steadfast in her faith in the Lord. She served as a Captain with the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary Civil Air Patrol, Arkansas Wing, where her specialty track was Aerospace Education. Above all else, Elizabeth deeply loved her family, her friends, and her faithful dog, Trixie. Her kindness, wicked sense of humor, adventurous spirit, and enduring love will be remembered always. Elizabeth was preceded in death by her parents, Martha Maude Vantwuyver and William Vantwuyver Sr.; her sister, Alice Ann Vantwuyver; and her brother-in-law, Borie Fortune.

She is survived by her son, Aaron Stapleton of Bentonville, Arkansas; her brother, William Jacob Hendricks Vantwuyver Jr. and his wife, Diane, of Shell Knob, Missouri; her brother, Lewis Guy Cooper and his wife, Patricia "Pat," of Violet Hill, Arkansas; her sister, Nancy Lou Fortune of Payette, Idaho; her sister, Martha Maude "Marti" Miller and her husband, Steve, of Prescott, Kansas; her brother, Jan Adam Vantwuyver of Washburn, Missouri; twenty-one nieces and nephews; several great-nieces and great-nephews; along with many other family members and friends.

Though she is no longer with us, the memories Elizabeth created and the love she shared will continue to live in the hearts of all who knew her. She will be deeply missed and forever loved.