Rebecca Joyce Lancaster, 82, of Batesville, Arkansas, passed away on November 8, 2025, in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was born in Childress, Texas to the late Dolton and Evelyn Maggard.  She spent much of her life in El Centro, California. In 1969, she and her family moved to Mountain View, Arkansas, before returning to El Centro in 1985. In 2022, she and her husband relocated to Batesville, Arkansas. On November 20, 1967, Rebecca married James Eric Lancaster, the love of her life. Together they built a life filled with warmth, faith, and love that lasted nearly 58 years. Rebecca worked in the nursing field for a time, but later found her true calling working on a school bus with special needs children — a job she cherished deeply. She was baptized as one of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1968 and dedicated her life to sharing her faith and the promises she found in God's Word, the Bible. Known for her warmth and kindness, Rebecca never met a stranger. She had a deep love for God's creations, especially animals, and she loved her family with all her heart.

Rebecca is survived by her devoted husband, James Eric Lancaster of Batesville; two daughters, Gwendolyn Ring and her husband Gail, of Batesville, Shelley Pendley of Susanville, California; son, Eric Brent Lancaster and his wife Laura, of El Centro, California; sister, Debra Ramsay of Seeley, California.

She was a loving grandmother to Anna Jackson and her husband John Paul, Chad Morris and his wife Ariel, Brian Ring and his fiancée Mindy Helm, Letisha Wilkey and her husband Eddie, Stacey and John Lancaster, Zachary Gentry. She was also blessed with 13 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by two sisters, Sharon Palmer and Diana Morris; brother Robert Maggard.

She will be dearly missed by all who knew and loved her, and we look forward to the day in the very near future that the Bible refers to at Revelation 21:4 — "And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away."

A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.