Birth date: Feb 17, 1935 Death date: Feb 28, 2026
Lt. Colonel (Ret.) Joel L. Bunch passed away Saturday, February 28th, in Fayetteville Arkansas after 91 beloved and beautiful years. Born in Elkins, Arkansas on February 17, 1935 to Joel Ernest Bunch and Edith (Stokenbury) Bunch, Read Obituary
Dear Joyce, Sarah, Rose, Sarah, and the entire Bunch family,
Our thoughts are you this week as you grieve the loss of Joel. We have been nothing but regaled with so many wonderful stories of him over the years. We send our love and condolences during this time and always.
Love, Kristen Albertson and the Albertson Family
CSBank 479.253.3000 70 S. Main St. Eureka Springs, Arkansas 72632 [email protected] John F. Cross, Chairman
March 9, 2026
Dear Bunch family,
As you probably know, I have known Joel Lee Bunch ever since I attended the University of Arkansas in 1952.
As I recall, when graduation date came, I chose the Infantry school at Ft. Benning, Georgia, and he chose the armored division. He and I both graduated together, with Joel with a degree in business and me with a degree in agriculture.
Joel and his wife Joyce were good bankers and worked together very well, he as Chairman and CEO and Joyce as President. Many years ago they sold the bank to Arvest and retired. I also remember that his brother, John served in the State Bank Department.
Joel called me once in a while and came over several times to Eureka Springs to eat lunch with me and Sheryl, and we would talk about old times at the U of A and what each of us were doing.
I, John Fuller Cross, Sr., have been putting out a Bank of Eureka Springs (now CS Bank) historical calendar each year for 49 years, so if you still have your 2023 bank Calendar, you will find that Joel Nathaniel Bunch (Joel Lee’s Great Grandfather) started the Bunch Trading Company on the square in Kingston, Arkansas. Joel Lee and his wife restored the building, and after 141 years, the store was sold in 1921.
He will be missed by this banker, who is now in his 71st year of banking, and comes to work every day. As a Christian, I hope to see him again at some time in the future, when God calls me home too.
John Fuller Cross, Sr.
