Mrs. Rita Marilyn Smith, 88, of Elizabethton, passed away Saturday, September 12, 2015, at Johnson City Medical Center following a brief illness. She was a daughter of the late John Edward and Jeanne Marie LeSchairre Wild and was born in Ponchatoula, La. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband, Crawford Alexander Smith; a daughter, Sherry Bowling; three sisters, Orris Caldwell, Norma Goudeau and Yvonne Saltzman; and one brother, John Wild.
Mrs. Smith was a devout Catholic and homemaker. She loved to garden and can vegetables and she also enjoyed quilting.
Those left to cherish her memory include two sons, Crawford Alexander Smith Jr. and his wife, Bobbi, Jacksonville, Fla., and Edward Earl Smith and his wife, Susan, Elizabethton; two daughters, Donna Marie Page and her husband, Harry, Elizabethton, and Vickie Smith and a special friend, Carla Hardin, Elizabethton; seven grandchildren, Heather Tester, Kevin Bowling, Carrie Rogers, Tammy Arrwood, Brian Smith, LaDonna Page and Harry Page; two step-grandchildren, Lisa Sutton and Christie Davis; 11 great-grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews.
A service to honor the life of Mrs. Rita Marilyn Smith will be conducted at 7 p.m. Tuesday, September 15, in the Chapel of Peace of Tetrick Funeral Home, Elizabethton, with Rev. Steve Burleson officiating. The family will receive friends in the funeral home chapel from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, prior to the service. The graveside service and interment will be conducted at 2 p.m. Wednesday, September 16, in the Caldwell Springs Baptist Church Cemetery. Active pallbearers will be Brian Smith, Kevin Bowling, Little Harry Page, Robert Pierce, Eric Tester, Buddy Bowers and Lee Long. Honorary pallbearers will be John Pierce, Larry Bowling, Chris Long, David Long, Chris Estep, Mike Nidiffer and Harry Page. Those wishing to attend the graveside service are asked to meet the family at the funeral home at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday to go in procession to the cemetery. Online condolences may be shared with the family at our website, www.tetrickfuneralhome.com.
Tetrick Funeral Home, Elizabethton, is serving the Smith family. Office: (423) 542-2232. Obituary Line: (423) 543-4917.