Bernice Smith
Ada Bernice Pickett Smith, 86, passed away January 18, 2018 under hospice care at Life Care Center of Lawrenceville.
She was born in Daus, Tennessee in 1931 to the late Haden Preston and Martha Lou Thurman Pickett. She married John Lawrence Smith, Jr. in 1950. Since his death in 1994, she has lived with family in the Atlanta area.
She is survived by a brother, Thurman Pickett; her daughters, Sandra Smith Stone (husband Tony) and Janet Smith Thompson (husband Steve); her granddaughter, Bailey Anne Huguley, and step-grandson, Adam William Maraman Stone (wife Meghan); and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and a wide extended network of family and friends.
Bernice graduated from Sequatchie County High School in 1949. She taught at Lone Oak Elementary on Signal Mountain in the late 1950s, and after the family moved to Atlanta in 1965, she worked at Egleston Hospital for Children, retiring in 1989.
Bernice was a lifelong active member of the church of Christ, with her most recent membership at Buford Church of Christ, where she taught a ladies’ Bible class for many years. She leaves behind a large church “family” that meant the world to her. In addition to her church work, she enjoyed cooking, reading, needlework, puzzles, games, and most of all, spending time with family and friends.
The family appreciates the love and care given to Bernice by family and friends, especially during the past few years as her health declined; all the cards, visits, prayers, gifts, and assistance with food and transportation provided her much comfort and joy and were an invaluable support to all.
Visitation was held at Hamilton Mill Memorial Chapel in Buford, Georgia on Friday, January 19.Messages to the family can be posted online at www.hamiltonmillchapel.com. Visitation was also held at Buford Church of Christ on Saturday, January 20, followed by a funeral service. The service was live-streamed via the church’s website at bufordcoc.com (live stream link).
She was then transported to Ewton Funeral Home in Dunlap for funeral services on Sunday, January 21. Burial followed in Collier Cemetery in Pikeville.
Contributions can be made in her memory to GA Agape online with a credit/debit card at www.georgiaagape.org or checks can be mailed to 3094 Mercer University Drive, Suite 200, Atlanta, Georgia, 30341. Donations to the Nicholas A. Smith Foundation (a scholarship fund) can be made online with a credit/debit via PayPal at nicholasasmith.org or checks can be mailed to 3160 Mulberry Oaks Court, Dacula, Georgia, 30019.
An online guestbook is at www.ewtonfuneralhome.com.
Ewton Funeral Home and Cremation Center of Dunlap was in charge of arrangements.
