| Sources |
- [S104] Cocke County, Tennessee, and its People, Cocke County Heritage Book Committee, (Walsworth Publishing, 1992), 23, 203, 240, 241, 242.
- [S120] A Place Called Home: Our Story, David L. Popiel, Duay O'Neil, et. al., (2006, The Newport Plain Talk / Jones Media Inc.), dpopiel@xtn.net., 94.
- [S24] The Newport Plain Talk, (http://www.newportplaintalk.com), 29 Jan 2003.
Mary Ellen Bell Smith, aged 83, beloved wife, precious mother, and adored grandmother, passed away on Wednesday, January 29, 2003, after an extended illness.
Mrs. Smith was a graduate of Mars Hill College and received B.S. and M.S. degrees from East Tennessee State University. An educator and administrator for almost fifty years, she was a teacher, principal,and supervisor in Cocke County and a high school English teacher in Hamblen County.
She began the first school lunch program in Cocke County and later became the first Supervisor of Food Services for the Cocke County School System.
She was the author of In the Shadow of the White Rock, a memoir detailing her life as a youngster growing up in post-Depression Cosby, Tennessee, which became an official publication of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
She will be remembered for her enormous energy, creativity, her generous spirit, and love of family.
She was a faithful member of the First Church of God, Del Rio, and Panther Springs United Methodist Church, Morristown. She accepted Christ as a child and remained an active member of her church for as long as she was physically able. She led youth programs, sang in the choir, sang as a member of a family quartet with her late husband, Doyle, and founded and led her church’s Women’s Missionary Society. She was a tireless role model for her children, grandchildren, and countless students.
She was preceded in death by her parents, James H. and Nancy Presnell Bell; her husband of 61 years, Doyle L. Smith; and her grandson, Christian Gordon Robinson.
She is survived by her son, Lieutenant General Hubert Smith, U.S. Army, Retired and his wife, Nancy, of Clarksville, TN; daughter, Dr. Barbara Robinson and her husband, Leo, of Morristown; and daughter, Mrs. Nancy Lemieux, and her husband, Rick, of Edmond, OK.
Grandchildren are Drs. Maurice and Jill Robinson, of Morristown; Rob and LeAnna Stephenson, of Anchorage, AK; Jon Stephenson, of Nashville; Todd Smith, of Spokane, WA; 1st Lt. Tim and April Stephenson, of Fort Stewart, GA; Laura and CPT Steve Wright, of Heidelberg, Germany; and Dr. Eustacia and Rob Pratt, of Morristown.
Her great-grandchildren are Ashley Robinson, Alex Robinson, Marisa Stephenson, Tyler Stephenson, Maxwell Wright, and Ian Wright.
She is survived by brothers, Clyde Bell, of Hawthorne, FL, and Charles Bell, of Newport; sisters, Hazel Kuszmaul, of Pennsylvania; Wilma Proffitt, of Newport; and Dorothy Ogle, of Florida.
She is also survived by several sisters- and brothers-in-law, numerous nieces and nephews, and her dear friends and nurse, Mrs. Shirley Waters, of Morristown.
A celebration of Mary’s life will be held at Panther Springs United Methodist Church on Friday, January 31st, at 12:00 noon. The body will lie in state 30 minutes prior to the services at the church.
The family will receive friends at Westside Chapel, Morristown, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 30. Entombment will be at Resthaven Memorial Gardens, Jefferson County, at 2 p.m. on Friday.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in memory of Mrs. Smith be made to Panther Springs United Methodist Church in Morristown.
Arrangements by Westside Chapel Funeral Home, Morristown.
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