August 20, 2008
EDNA SMITH
Memorial service for Edna Smith, 92, of Jacksonville will be at 4 p.m.
Sunday, Aug. 24, at Jacksonville First Presbyterian Church with the Rev.
Jack Albright officiating.
Mrs. Smith died Aug. 11. She was born Aug. 9, 1916, in Zelienople, Pa.
Mrs. Smith was a member of the Jacksonville First Presbyterian Church, Hyperion Study Club and Church Circle at First Presbyterian Church.
Survivors include husband, Billy G. Smith of Jacksonville; daughter and son-in-law, Tolly and Wayne Wildcat of Lawrence, Kan.; brother and sister-in-law, Harry and Leona Zeigler of Elwood City, Pa. and several nieces and nephews
There will be no visitation at the funeral home per request of the family.
Memorials may be made to the Jacksonville Public Library. Arrangements are under the direction of Autry Funeral Home.
Information from The Cherokeean Herald
Edna Smith
Edna Smith passed away two days after her 92nd birthday at Mother Francis Hospital in Tyler. A memorial service will be held Sunday, Aug. 24 at 4 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Texas with Rev. Jack Albright officiating. The family invites people to stay and share memories and photos. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Jacksonville Public Library; Edna loved to read all her life. She is survived by her husband of 63 years, Billy G. Smith (89), and their only child Dr. Tolene Smith Wildcat and her husband, artist Wayne Wildcat of Lawrence, Kan., who have lived with Edna and Billy the past two years. Edna is also survived by her brother Harry Zeigler and his wife Leona of Pennsylvania, and many nieces and nephews, children of her brothers and sister, and of Billy’s sisters. Edna Zeigler grew up in a small town near Pittsburg, Penn., one of five children of the depression. Edna went to business college for two years, and worked to help her family make ends meet. Her German Mennonite ancestors founded Harmony, Penn. When the war began, Edna vowed to use her secretarial skills to help the war effort. As this shy yet brave girl left her home, Edna prayed to find someone to love. As she flew from her small town to Panama, Billy G. Smith was on that same plane, returning to Panama after a visit home to Jacksonville. That night, Billy took Edna one of the first of many bouquets of wild flowers. The war for them was mixed with orchids and bougainvillea, in the tropics of Panama, as they fell in love. They married in the Army Chapel in the Canal Zone May 26, 1945. Edna said recently to her daughter, “We were some of the lucky ones.” Few find the love of their life, and share 63 years of happy married life. Edna was a wonderful wife and mother. She worked as secretary at Beall’s with her husband, before and after Beall’s paid wives who worked with their husbands. Even working six days a week, they had time and energy for fun – for camping and campfires on Galveston beach, and the River, trips to Pennsylvania most summers. She created a lifetime full of memories for her daughter and friends, hosted the 1965 JHS all night graduation party at their farm, as well as Christmas parties for Beall’s employees, Lions Club, Rodeo, bonfires and steaks for Billy’s downtown business buddies, Aggies, and annual Easter picnics for the Church when the dogwoods bloomed. Billy and Edna loved to travel. She loved antiques. Edna hosted Presbyterian Circle meetings and Hyperion Study Club, and gave well researched, thoughtful programs for each group at other members’ homes. She loved to read and research, often about the Bible, and she wrote poetry: “It was a cool March morning and my heart was wide awake to the sound of the birds and the pure white snow, and the Master’s touch on each flake.” What began as a part time job for a young man from Mexico grew over twenty five years to be something very special for all. Edna helped Eloy learn English and most of his family to become legal citizens. It is hard to think of Edna without thinking of or wanting to bring her flowers. Her husband picked flowers for her every morning. Her gardens at the farm are now her legacy, as well as Eloy’s. Edna survived breast cancer (2000). Edna and Billy and her visiting brother Harry and his wife, survived two tornadoes that destroyed much of the farm. Their church family and other friends, and as always Eloy, summoned back from Mexico, came with chain saws and cut through trees to get to their house, and won a place in their hearts forever. She and Billy also survived the end of Beall’s as they’d known it, and enjoyed his long retirement. Edna was always so perceptive about people and the beauty of the world. She was attentive and a good listener. On walks in the woods, she saw the tiny things of beauty. On walks on the beach, Edna always found the most sand dollars. When Edna had trouble walking, Billy bought her a golf cart so they could continue to ride around the farm and gardens. She loved the quiet of the country, her flowers and trees, the blue birds, butterflies, painted buntings, hummingbirds, pileated woodpeckers. Edna had a long, full life, filled with love; she wanted more of it. Except for a few hospital visits, she lived at her own home, just as she wanted. Tolly and Wayne lived with Edna and Billy the past two years, with help from good doctors, Eloy and Juana, and visiting nurses. Her daughter feels fortunate to share this rare time with her parents; Edna was always in a good mood, always alert and witty and full of love and appreciation for being at home with her family. Yeats, the Irish poet wrote: “Man is in love and loves what vanishes. What more is there to say?” Edna Smith, this mother, wife, sister, friend, will be greatly missed. Published in the Jacksonville Daily Progress on 8/22/2008