Mary Elizabeth Baxter Smith, 95, of Tifton, passed away Monday, March 2, 2015, at her home. A graveside service will be held for Mrs. Smith at 2:00 p.m. Thursday, March 5, 2015, at Oak Ridge Cemetery with the Reverend Jason Corey Edwards officiating. The family will receive friends Thursday, March 5, 2015, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Mrs. Smith was born December 2, 1919 in Midville to the late William Ellington and Annie Gordon Baxter. Upon graduation from Midville High School, she attended Grady Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, where she earned her degree as a Registered Nurse. After college, she began her nursing career at Emory in Atlanta, during which time she married her high school sweetheart, the late Hugh Edward Smith. The Smiths would go on to live in Monticello and Thomaston, before making their home in Tifton, where they became active in the community, especially First United Methodist Church of Tifton. While in Monticello, Mrs. Smith realized her passion for public health and advanced her training by attending Peabody College in Tennessee, the same college her mother attended years before to pursue the same career. She went on to work for 35 years in public health, before retiring from Tift County Health Department. Her love for nursing and public health then lead her to serve from 1984 to 2008 on the Board of Health for the Tift County Health Department, where she was very active until her health would not allow her to continue.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; her son, Hugh “Huck” Edward Smith, Jr.; brother, William Ellington Baxter, Jr; sisters, Gladys Baxter Davis, Virginia Baxter Thorne, Josephine Baxter Flowers, and Anne Baxter Carter.
She is survived by her niece, whom she raised as her daughter, Helen Thorne Irving of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida; her grandchildren, Mary Louise Smith Callicutt of Atlanta, Edward Moore Smith of Atlanta, Amy Irving White of Athens, Michael Edward Irving of Savannah and Andrew Hamilton Irving of Brunswick; great-grandchildren, Emma June Callicutt of Atlanta and Henry and Max White of Athens; a sister, Bess Baxter Shirley of Macon; as well as several other nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, great-great nieces and great-great nephews.
Memorial gifts may be made to Hospice of Tiftarea, P. O. Box 747, Tifton, GA 31793; or First United Methodist Church of Tifton 107 12th Street West, Tifton, GA 31794.