Alice Virginia Smith

Alice Virginia Smith passed away November 27, 2012 in Oklahoma City, Ok. She was born August 22, 1933 in Golden, Oklahoma to Garland and Flora (Bean) Raines. She grew up in far southeastern Oklahoma attending Broken Bow High School, where in the 9th grade she was chosen to be the High School’s representative to a biology conference held in Henryetta, Oklahoma. This was about as big as it got for a Broken Bow High School student in those days, and she enjoyed every minute of it. Alice was also a member of the Honor Society throughout her years in Broken Bow. In 1951, Alice came to Oklahoma City and lived with her aunt until her parents could afford to move, which they eventually did. She attended school at John Marshall where she “Lettered” in basket ball. She was very proud of her Letter Jacket. She graduated from John Marshall High School in May of 1952. Right after high school, Alice went to work for the Department of Human Services. Shortly thereafter, her sister introduced her to Leroy Smith and before long, they were married. She heard that federal jobs were better than State jobs, so she applied for a position at Tinker Field Air Force Base and went to work in the Legal Department. Alice had two children, Nancy and Debra. After Debra was born, she decided it was time for her to become a stay at home mom, so she quit her job at Tinker and did just that. She was active in the lives of her children—always endeavoring to teach them to do things the right way even when it was hard, and to be good to people. Alice quickly became the ultimate housewife. She sewed all the girls’ clothing, cooked every meal the family ate, and kept a clean house. She served as Church Secretary, taught Sunday School classes and became President of the Parent and Teachers Association (PTA) at the grade school where both of her daughters attended. She became known for the wonderful pies she baked every day. The family would gather just before bedtime, sit out on the front porch (weather permitting), and eat their “nightly snack” which was a delicious piece of homemade pie. On October 13, 1984, Alice won 3rd place in the Smith Family Reunion Pie Contest. Leroy, of course, thought she should have won 1st place! Somewhere around 1970 Alice thought her daughters were old enough that she could go back to work. She took a position in the Commissioner’s Office of the Department of Transportation. Not long after taking that position, she decided to go back to school. She enrolled in college and began taking computer programming classes. Programming came easy for Alice who was always a logical and organized thinker. She transferred into a position as a computer programmer trainee and was soon promoted to Computer Programmer Analyst Supervisor. Alice was responsible for the team of programmers who developed the State Payroll System that was used to pay employees across the State of Oklahoma for many years. In 1984, Leroy and Alice built their dream home in Edmond, Oklahoma. This afforded them the first real opportunity to grow a garden. It was so much fun and there was so little time, Alice decided to retire and stay home with Leroy who had already retired. Alice’s favorite thing to do was work in her garden and flower beds. She loved finding a new flower specimen, planting a seed and watching it grow and picking weeds. She always said that the thing she liked to do best was pick weeds. So that’s why her flowers were always so beautifully manicured. The past 26 or so years Alice spent her time growing vegetables and flowers, canning the fruits from her garden, giving away vegetables, going to garage sales, caring for her children, grandchildren, great grandchild, friends, and neighbors. Her pure, sweet, kind, and compassionate spirit will be missed by all.

Alice is preceded in death by her parents; sister, Ruby Allman, and brother, Roy Raines. She is survived by Sister, Margaret Carroll and husband David; Spouse, Leroy Smith of 58 years; Children, Nancy Atkinson and husband Jack and Debra Shuffield; Grandchildren, Kristina Morel and Matthew Morel; Great Grandchild, Molly Morel