Annie Smith Pearson's Obituary
CELEBRATION OF LIFE HONORING
ANNIE SMITH PEARSON
DECEMBER 22, 1926 – OCTOBER 6, 2023
Annie (Ann) Smith Pearson, age 96, passed away peacefully on October 6, 2023, at Grand Brook Memory Care in McKinney, Texas, with family at her side. Interment at Restland Memorial Park, Dallas, Texas, will follow a private, immediate family graveside service on Saturday, October 21, 2023.
Annie was born December 22, 1926, in Plainview, Texas, to Carroll Lovelace Smith and Annie Horne Smith. Since her mother passed away suddenly the following day, she was raised by her sweet daddy with the help of loving relatives and housekeepers. She attended schools in Plainview, and then graduated from Woodrow Wilson High in Dallas, Texas.
After her family moved to Dallas in 1942, Ann joined Greenville Ave. Christian Church where she met and then married Oliver Augustus Pearson, Jr. on February 20, 1948. They shared over 50 years of marriage and raised two daughters, Catherine Ann and Diana Lynn.
Ann loved God and Jesus Christ. She also loved being with her family. She especially loved children. She liked traveling, doing crafts, and sewing. She even worked for a while at Cloth World to get discounts on material for her projects, that included sewing costumes for her grandchildren and over 50 Barbie & Ken doll outfits for the grandgirls. Other hobbies included reading, scrapbooking, and making photo albums, but her favorite pastime for over fifty years was genealogy.
She and Oliver were the high school youth directors at Greenville Ave. Christian Church for several years. Then in 1970 Ann helped start the Greenville Ave. Christian Church Childcare Center and eventually became its administrator, touching many lives with her witness and care for over ten years. In 1990, she joined First Baptist, Dallas and remained active there for the next 30 years. She was well known as the friendly elevator greeter on Sunday mornings.
Ann held offices in the Order of the Eastern Star, the Social Order of the Beauceant Dallas Assembly No. 63, the Cosmos Book Review Club, and an Elizabeth Thompson Literary Club.
She had a great sense of humor and joy and was beautiful and loving. Her cat, Boots, had a special place in her heart. And Christmas with family was a very favorite time of year.
Ann was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and her sisters, Mary Lorraine Smith and Eleanor Jolene Simpson, and brother, Charles Edwin Smith.
She is survived by her daughters Cathy McLeland (Mike) of Fairview, and Diana Keesey (Daniel) of Chandler; grandson Jeffrey McLeland (Karen) of Frisco; granddaughters Sonya Rodriguez of Ft. Worth, Stacey McLeland of Princeton, and Christi Droblyn (John) of Lindale; seven wonderful great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.
We are thankful for the wonderful care our mother received at Grand Brook Memory Care in McKinney. The staff treated her like family with much love and attention. We also thank Anchor of Hope Hospice and, especially, RN Cynthia for her gentleness, kindness, and care.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Roanoke Food Pantry, 108 Pecan St., Roanoke, TX 76262-8616, or First Baptist, Dallas, 1707 San Jacinto St., Dallas, TX 75201.
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