Julia Draper - 1954

Julia Eva Smith, age 68 of Coleman died Thursday, December 11, 2003 at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene.  Funeral service was held at 2:00 p. m. Sunday, December 14, 2003 at First United Methodist Church in Coleman with Dr. G. Dean Coultas officiating.  Burial was in White Chapel Cemetery, under the direction of Stevens Funeral Home of Coleman.  Services included a selection of beautiful music arranged by Ann Hargett including “Ave Maria,” “Hymn of Promise,” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.”  Pallbearers were Royce Young, Mike Edington, Henry Dodson, Bob Edington, Rocky Rutherford and Jay Davis.  Honorary Pallbearers were the students she has taught - both past and present.  Special thoughts about Julia were shared by Barbara Cox, Lorene Halfmann, Laci Burdick and Lorrie Payne. 

Mrs. Smith was born August 18, 1935 in Gouldbusk, daughter of C. B. Draper and Decima Hill Draper.  She was raised in Coleman and graduated from Coleman High School.  She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Howard Payne University with a Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in Mathematics and minoring in English.  She married J.B. Smith on July 29, 1954 at First United Methodist Church in Coleman.  She taught mathematics at Coleman High School for 33 years.  She was a dedicated wife, mother and teacher.  Her Family extended beyond her biological Family to her students and the faculty with strong commitment and dedication.  A part of her will be with each student she has taught and her legacy will be passed on for generations to come.  She was a member of First United Methodist Church and the Dunson Sunday School Class. 

Survivors include her husband, J. B. Smith of Coleman; two daughters and sons-in-law, Brenda and Michael Lagow of Dallas, Malinda and Charles Carter of Bastrop; one brother and sister-in-law, Charlie B. and Lucille Draper, Jr. of Richland Springs; one granddaughter, Krista Carter of Bastrop and U.T. Arlington; one Aunt, Cherry June Hill King of Midland; nieces and nephews, Kathy Draper McCarty of Henley, Texas, Charlene Draper Lindsay of Richland Springs, Texas, Teddy Draper of Dripping Springs, Texas, Gary Draper of Richland Springs, Texas, Joe Robinson and Larry Robinson both of Coleman, Judy Robinson Rasbury of Mesquite Texas and numerous great nieces and great nephews.  She was preceded in death by her parents and one sister, Barbara O’Gorman. 

A scholarship fund has been set up in memory of Julia Smith.  Memorials may be sent to: Julia Smith Scholarship Fund, c/o Coleman County State Bank, P. O. Box 940, Coleman, Texas 76834. 

LETTER FROM THE FAMILY OF JULIA EVA SMITH:

On behalf of Julia’s Family - thank you for your Prayers, Love and Support during this time.  We are very humbled with this outpouring.  Our “Coleman County Family” has always been there for us over the years.  We are so blessed to be part of this incredible community.  We know this has been hard for each of you too - and especially for Coleman High School.  Mother was such a pillar of the community.  She loved teaching.  Her students were her children.  She loved and cared so dearly for each one.  We knew so much about her children over the years - she shared wonderful stories - special accomplishments and also correspondence from former students.  She always glowed - it made her so happy.  We are so proud of her - she made such a difference in so many lives.  Thank you again - we Love you ALL, J. B., Malinda and Brenda 

Dear Friends, 

I am writing you to express a deep and sincere gratitude for having known and been taught by Julia Smith.  All of her students know her simply as “Mrs. Smith,” for as you know there is only one Mrs. Smith.  That name has loomed large at Coleman High School for decades.  For as we entered her classroom for the first time, as legend has it, we were to abandon all hope of ever leaving her class without homework, again.  It only took about a week to realize that the legend was true.  Mrs. Smith was, however, a task master with a purpose. We learned a lot of math, but even more importantly, learned that the work never ends, that there’s always still more to learn, and that if we just get started we’ll eventually get there.  I don’t remember much from math class anymore.  I don’t know the difference between sine and cosine, and I couldn’t mathematically prove my way out of a brown paper bag.  But I do remember the overhead projector and a bottle of naptha, and the smudges of grease pencil on Mrs. Smith’s right hand.  And how she would tell us stories about J. B., then she’d get tickled, stick her head out straight at you and laugh ... and laugh hard ‘til she was red in the face. We laughed a lot. 

If you’ve known Mrs. Smith for any time at all then you know how selfless she is. She was always willing to help when there was work to be done.  During my last semester in high school, she took her off period to teach me calculus everyday.  Thankfully, I’m not doing much calculus anymore, but the time spent with Mrs. Smith saved me countless hours of frustration later on.  One of my proudest moments was being able to come back to Mrs. Smith two years later and tell her how to do a calculus problem that the two of us could never figure out.  We eventually figured out that you have to derive everything related to time.  So, I’m doing that today. And when I relate everything to time, now; I realize that it won’t be that long until we all see Mrs. Smith, again...and laugh.  God Bless, David L. Tyson, MD - CHS Class of 1987