Rita M. Smalling

Rita Marie Smalling, 87, went Home to be with the Lord on Sunday, December 19, 2021. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00AM in the Mausoleum Chapel of Macon Memorial Park Cemetery with Pastor Mack Ballard officiating. Due to Covid, the in-person service is limited to IMMEDIATE FAMILY ONLY please. The service will be broadcast on www.facebook.com/MaconMemorialPark. Entombment will follow in Macon Memorial Park Cemetery.

Rita was born in Orlando, Florida to the late Joseph Cestia Lawton and Irene Catherine Berke Lawton. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. Mrs. Smalling was a homemaker, who truly loved serving God and spending time with her family.

She was preceded in death by her husband, John H. Smalling III and her siblings to include Joseph Benjamin Lawton, Agnes Lawton Skees, Joe Lawton, Laura Mae Lawton Hallauer, Catherine Lawton Holland, and Robert Lawton.

Survivors include her youngest sister, Carolyn Lawton Marsh; her children, John Allen Smalling and wife Darlene, Valerie Jordan, Charlene Horton, Mark Smalling and wife Tricia, Dennis Smalling and wife Carol, Todd Smalling and wife Annette, Susan Cowan and husband John; 17 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews and friends.

We want to send a special heartfelt thanks to Brookdale Columbus Alzheimer's and Dementia Care in Columbus, Georgia who has helped care for Rita for the last few years and has become a part of our family.

Her host family is Mark and Tricia Smalling, 131 Holly Way, Macon, GA 31216.

Visit www.maconmp.com to express condolences. Macon Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery has charge of the arrangements.