Obituary: Dr. Michael V. Liggett of Fort Smith

On the afternoon of August 15, 2023 Dr. Michael (Mike) V Liggett left this earth surrounded by his family at UAMS and was greeted in Heaven by his mom, dad and all his family and friends who got there first.

Mike was born in Wichita, KS but spent most of his life in Fort Smith, graduating from Northside High School in 1966. His higher education continued at Westark and then the University of Arkansas until he was accepted to the University of Tennessee Dental School after only 2 years of college. He finished his college degree while attending dental school-one would have been hard enough but Mike did both, while flying home every weekend to play in his band The Off Beats, so he’d have enough spending money for the week.

When he graduated from dental school he went into practice with Dr Ed Dooley in 1972. After Dr Dooley retired Mike bought the practice and remained until 1987 when his dream of building his own office was a reality and Parklane Family Dental was established. He then expanded and added another office at Central Mall. With the expansion of NW Arkansas he saw a need for Parklane to have an office in Rogers and just recently finished another NW Arkansas office in Springdale. In 2004, his nephew Charles (Charlie) graduated from LSU Dental School and went to work at Parklane. Another added bonus for Mike was to have his son Kristopher (Kris) join the group in 2007 after graduating from Baylor Dental School and it really became “Parklane Family Dental”. Mike was a member of American Academy of General Dentistry and American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry.

As busy as Mike always was, he was lucky enough to work-in a patient one day who had a problem wisdom tooth. That patient was Judi. They fell in love and continued their journey together for 47 years adding Michael, Kris, Lauren and then Jorge. The happiest time of his life was when he became
“GDad”.

Mike loved music.he played his way through school and giving guitar lessons to lots of kids. He also loved art and was quite an artist himself.

If you knew Mike, you were among the lucky. He never met a stranger and always had a kind word for everyone, especially the underdog. He was the best son, big brother, husband, Dad, GDad and friend.
We all will miss him every day but are assured we will see him again.
Mike is survived by his wife, Judi, his son Michael (Katharine), son Kris (Bo) daughter Lauren (JR) and son Jorge (Julissa) and those precious ones who call him GDad, Finley, Stratton, Lemon, Melanie, Jorgie and Aislinn. He is also survived by his brother Chuck (Kathy) nephews Charlie (Heather) Travis (Deanna) great nieces Emery and Piper and cousin Jackie Domecq. Additional close friends Wade and Gena Walker and Jackie Barker.

Memorial contributions to Mike’s memory may be made to the charity of one’s choice.