Patricia Ann (Brock) Smith, A Special July Birthday

Fay & Pat (Brock) Smith

Patricia Ann (Brock) Smith

b. 15 July 1932 MS – d. 31 August 2010 MS

Wife of  Fay Seward Smith who was my first cousin, once removed.  

They had three children: Patricia, Michael & Kim. 

Wyatt Smith Cemetery

Pat was a great help with my research into my father’s family in Mississippi. My Smith and Brown roots in Mississippi and Louisiana are like tangled vines. On many occasions Pat helped me to separate and follow those vines. I first met Pat in the summer of 1997 during a family vacation that included a stop in Mississippi. My husband, our children and I stayed with my ‘half aunt’, Sylvia Rayleen (Brown) Hall who showed us what southern hospitality is all about. She introduced us to more family members than I can remember. Two of those relatives were Fay and Pat Smith who invited us to their place in Progress for a delightful lunch. Then Fay was our tour guide to family cemeteries.  We never would have found the Wyatt Smith cemetery, located in a cow's field and covered in thorns and weeds, without our guide. After that visit we stayed in touch through letters and emails. Pat sent me documents, family trees and Christmas cards. She was an active member of the Alford American Family Association. Each time she mailed me the newest journal, she included a note. I am very fortunate to have met Fay and Pat!

ENTERPRISE-JOURNAL;  

McComb, Pike Co., MS—3 September 2010

            Patricia Anne “Pat” Brock Smith, 78, of the Progress community, died Aug. 31, 2010, at the Cardiovascular Institute of Mississippi in McComb.

            Visitation is 5 to 9 tonight at Hartman-Hughes Funeral Home in Tylertown and 10 a.m. Saturday at Silver Springs Baptist Church until services at 11. The Rev. Byran Wilkinson and the Rev. Wayne Hall will officiate. Burial will be in the Silver Creek Baptist Church Cemetery.

            Mrs. Smith was born July 15, 1932, in Walthall County, to Leslie William and Dollie Lura Smith Brock.

            She owned and operated Smith’s Grocery in Progress. She was a member of Silver Springs Baptist Church, which she served as treasurer and taught a Sunday school class. She was a member of Silver Springs Seniors and was a hospice volunteer. She was a member and former president of the Pike-Amite-Walthall Library Board.

            Mrs. Smith was a 1949 graduate of Lexie High School, where she played basketball. She loved working with genealogy and was a member of the Alford American Family Association, from which she received a Hall of Fame award in 2009. She was a beloved member of the Progress community and will be greatly missed by many.

            She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband of 49 years, Fay Seward Smith; one sister, Peggy Brock Stringer; one granddaughter, Tara Smith Leonard and two sisters-in-law, Nathalee Smith Comeaux and Wilma Smith Butler.

            Survivors include two sons, Michael D. Smith and Kim Lee Smith, both of Progress; a daughter, Patricia Gail Smith Hall of Tylertown; a sister, Joana Brock Breeland of Tylertown; a brother-in-law, Cletus Stringer of Southaven; four grandchildren, Tricia Ann Hall and husband Ray McElveen and their children, Will and Mary Grace; James Don Hall Jr., and wife Tena and their daughter, Jaden; Judy Larisa Hall and husband Randall Sheets Sr. and their children, Regan, Larisa, Randall Jr., Zachary and Genell; Dustin Michael Smith and wife Shellie and their children, Sadie Claire, Everhett and Austin; and Jermiah Williams and Samarah Leonard, whose mother was the late Tara Lee Smith Leonard; two step-grandchildren, Jody Lee Stone and children Jody “JoJo” Jr. and Aimee, and Randall Sheets Sr., as mentioned above.

            Pallbearers will be James Hall Jr., Dustin Smith, Ray McElveen, Randall Sheets Sr., Wade Brown and Mac Breeland. Honorary pallbearers will be the deacons of Silver Springs Baptist Church.

The obituary is taken from the Alford American Family Association web site. You can find it at http://www.alfordassociation.org/IRs/0064.htm. You can also see their headstone which contains genealogy information.