Pictured: Mr. Wendel McCorkle. Davis Johnson photos
HOPE – One of Arkansas’ premier florists will be retiring this year, Hope’s own Wendel McCorkle. Now age 77, Mr. McCorkle has been working his craft for over 30 years, with his creative discography of works including floral pieces such as Valentine’s Day roses, Mother’s Day carnations, church altar flowers, and funeral sprays, to name a few. Unbeknownst to many, however, Mr. McCorkle has not always been in the floral business, as he was also a local educator. To learn more about his famous flowers and his past experiences, we decided to come to him for a short interview.
Wendel was born to Cecil and Lucille McCorkle on March 31st, 1949. For college, he attended State College of Arkansas, now known as UCA, achieving his master’s degree in education. After graduation, he returned to Hope in 1970, where for over 20 years, he worked first as a teacher and later as an administrator at various schools, including Brookwood, Paisley, Beryl Henry, Hope Primary, and Yerger schools. Early in his teaching career, he crossed paths with a first-year preschool/elementary school teacher named Kay, and the two eventually married and formed a lifelong partnership. With all of his educational experience in Hope, Wendel would soon instead embrace a family bug of floristry passed down from his grandmother.
According to Mr. McCorkle, his knack for this came from his grandmother, who grew lots of flowers in her home garden. The hobby of arranging flowers caught the attention of young Wendel because of the opportunities granted for openly expressing yourself. His first floral job was at the old Hope Floral at the corner of Walnut and Division Streets while he was in college. It was here that his unwavering skill in design would emerge, being under the guidance of store owner Nelda Roberts. From there, he would go on to take the helm of the business, moving the business to a building at the convergence of 3rd and Main Streets. McCorkle stated that he liked this building because of its large window displays. Finally, in 1999, he decided to move his ever-growing business to their present building at 501 South Main, the former Kroger Grocery Store building. Since then, the Hope essential has continued to serve the community with all of their floristry needs and wants.
Adding up the entirety of Wendel’s work in Hope, he has served our community for over 50 years, never ceasing to help anyone with needs and never failing to give a good laugh to those around him. We would like to personally thank him for all of his incredible years of support for our town, and we wish him and Kay a happy and eventful retirement!
