Death
McMath died at his home in Little Rock on Saturday, October 4, 2003. He had been released from a hospital stay on the previous Wednesday after being treated for severe dehydration, malnourishment and an irregular heartbeat. He is survived by his third wife, Betty Dorch Russell McMath, three sons: Sandy, Phillip and Bruce McMath; two daughters, Melissa Hatfield and Patricia Bueter; ten grandchildren and one great grandchild. His first wife and childhood sweetheart, Elaine Braughton McMath, died at Quantico, Virginia in 1942. His second wife, of 49 years, Anne Phillips McMath, died at Little Rock in 1994.
McMath was given a full military funeral by a U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard. He lay in state for a day in the Capitol rotunda, following which his closed, flag-draped coffin was transported by motorcade to Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock for services attended by more than 2,000 persons. He was eulogized by Former Governor David Pryor as, "the best friend Arkansas ever had." The ceremony included hymns by the combined Methodist and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Vespers choirs, concluding with "Onward, Christian Soldiers." Following the firing of a salute by the Honor Guard, McMath was interred at Pinecrest Memorial Cemetery in Saline County, Arkansas, a few yards from a survey marker denoting the geographical center of the state.
Sid McMath Avenue in Little Rock is named for him and in December 2004 the Central Arkansas Library System dedicated a new branch in his honor. A statue of McMath, waving his trademark Panama campaign hat, was commissioned by the library from sculptor Bryan Massey. It was unveiled September 26, 2006 as the centerpiece of a sculpture plaza and nature trail. In December 2006, Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas announced the presentation of the first Sidney S. McMath Award for Outstanding Leadership and Courage by a Public Official to U.S. Representative Marion Berry (D-Ark). Henderson State University has established the Sidney S. McMath Pre-Law Lecture Series Fellowship and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences recently received a $1 million private endowment for the Sidney S. McMath professorship in public health. The Governor Sidney Sanders McMath Memorial Scholarship for an Outstanding Pre-Law Junior was established at Southern Arkansas University by the Columbia County Democratic Central Committee on April 5, 2008. Lions World Services for the Blind presents an annual Sidney McMath Award for a Lifetime of Outstanding Public Service. The former governor's autobiography, Promises Kept, posthumously was awarded the Arkansas Historical Association's highest accolade, the John G. Ragsdale Prize. In April 2006 it received the Booker T. Worthen Medal for literary excellence from the Arkansas Library System. There is no plaque or other memorial in Hot Springs, Arkansas, mentioning McMath or the GI reform movement he led.
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