Mary Jane Dandridge Smith's Obituary
Mary Jane was born on June 18, 1923 in Miami, Florida and passed away on May 25, 2016 in Calhoun, Georgia. She attended elementary school in Little Rock, Arkansas, high school in Paris, Arkansas and Business College in Little Rock Arkansas. After business college she worked as a secretary for an engineering and defense plant in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Mary Jane married to Edward Forrest Smith on January 23, 1944 in Paris, Arkansas. She travelled with her husband to Washington D.C. and California while he was in the service. They resided in Little Rock and North Little Rock Arkansas for 20 years where they were active members of Asbury Methodist Church. Mary Jane attended a women’s Bible Study in the home of Jane Critz in Little Rock for nine years. When Bible Study Fellowship opened a class in Little Rock, she taught the women’s evening class. In 1966, Ed was transferred with the U.S. Corps of Engineers to Dallas, they joined Casa Linda United Methodist church where she taught Sunday school for over 40 years. She began a pilot Bible Study Fellowship Class in Dallas and continued as a teaching leader in BSF for 19 years before retiring. Ed and Mary Jane had the privilege of serving with the Billy Graham Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam in 1987 and 1988 and enjoyed travelling in Europe during that time. Ed passed away in 2005, and in 2011 Mary Jane sold her home of 45 years in Dallas and moved to Calhoun, Georgia with daughter Sarah and husband, where she joined the First Baptist Church and continued with occasionally teaching Sunday school. Mary Jane was preceded in death by, husband Edward F. Smith Sr.; Mother, Mamie Crone Dandridge; Father, George Gilmer Dandridge Jr.; Brothers, George Gilmer Dandridge III and Tillman Spottswood Dandridge; sister, Mamie Sue Dandridge Petty and great-grandson, Forrest Smith. She is survived by Edward Forrest Smith, Jr., Sarah Elizabeth Smith Weaver (Ricki), Jane Dandridge Smith Lumbard (Woody), grandchildren: Edward Forrest Smith III, Elizabeth Ann Smith Dunaway (Jordi Herold), Mary Catherine Weaver Dees (David), Jonathan Edward Weaver (Olivia), Shannon Nicole Smith, Hannah Shaw (Brad) and Ben Lumbard (Jessica); great-grandchildren: Angelica Kirkpatrick Ralston (Lucas), Sierra Smith, Connor Dees, Lauren Dees, Catherine Dees, Simone Dunaway, Zelda Dunaway, Jase Weaver, Courtney Shaw, Ty Shaw and Logan Lumbard and many, many dear nieces, nephews and friends in Arkansas, Texas and Georgia. Family will receive friends on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 from 6:00PM – 8:00PM at Restland Funeral Home. Services will be held Thursday, June 2, 2016 at 10:00 AM in the Memorial Chapel at Restland Funeral Home with Reverend James Minor officiating. Interment at the DWF National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial contributions be made to: 1. North India New Life Society P. O. Box 102 Plainview, TX 79073-0102 2. Happy Hill Farm 3846 N. Highway 144 Granbury, TX. 76048 Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Restland Funeral Home and Memorial Park, 13005 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, TX 75243.
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