Simultaneously with deep sadness and gratitude, we celebrate philanthropist, arts advocate, and loving mother/grandmother Judy Tenenbaum, who passed unexpectedly on Thursday, June 10, 2021, just three days shy of her 72nd birthday. We find ourselves appreciative of her for many reasons, including her passion and generous contributions to the arts.

Judy was born on June 13, 1949, in Long Island, New York. The family relocated in 1958 to Dallas, TX, where she was raised. She attended Hillcrest High School and the University of Oklahoma in Norman, where she met Harold S. Tenenbaum, whom she later married. Judy completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1994, obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology at 45. Judy is remembered for her generous spirit and her dedication to the philanthropic causes she championed. Notably, she has been recognized for her work with St. Vincent's Hospital, Temple B'nai Israel, the Susan G. Koman Foundation, and City Year, to name but a few of the many organizations Judy loved and supported. While she genuinely enjoyed her philanthropic work, Judy's greatest passion - and arguably her most outstanding contribution - is the Argenta Community Theater she founded in 2010.

Judy was passionate about creating an organization and opportunities that would allow members of all parts of our community to experience the magic that the performing arts afford. We are all forever grateful for the way her vision, generosity, and heart have allowed the Theater to fulfill that need for the last decade and will enable them to continue to do so in the future. Judy's death creates a void that will be deeply felt by her family, her friends, and our entire arts community.

Join us as we remember and honor such a dynamic force and lover of the Arkansas arts. Her physical presence will be missed, yet her spirit lives on in the creative energy that is alive and well in our state. May her memory be a blessing to us all. Rest well and rest high, Mrs. Tenenbaum.

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