Paula F. Smith

Paula “Jean” (Flinchum) Smith, 88, Muncie, Indiana, passed away Saturday, November 3, 2018, at Westminster Village. She was born on New Year’s Eve, Tuesday, December 31, 1929, in Mayking, Kentucky, the daughter of Curtis and Maxie (Webb) Flinchum. She was the last of five children born to this union. Paula graduated from Whitesburg High School in 1947. She was assistant to the Director of Budgeting at Ball State University and served as the recording secretary to the Board of Trustees. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology and Chemistry at Eastern Kentucky State University where she met and later married her husband, Charles E. Smith, Jr. She received her Master’s Degree in German from Ball State University and continued her studies in the Languages at BSU. Upon retirement from the university she was employed at Ball Memorial Hospital as Assistant to the Vice President of Finance where she worked until her retirement in the mid-nineties. In 1990, Paula and her husband transferred their memberships from Bardstown, Kentucky to High Street United Methodist Church in Muncie, Indiana. She enjoyed reading, especially classic literature, flowers, cooking, and her two cats. Paula loved overseas travel which included two trips to the Holy Land. She also attended the Passion Play which was produced every ten years in Central Europe. Paula was a member of a number of professional organizations which included University Wives and the Ball State University Art Alliance as well as the Delaware County Mental Health Association and family counseling services of Delaware County. She was preceded in death by her parents and her siblings. A memorial service will be held at Elm Ridge Funeral Home, 4600 West Kilgore Avenue, Muncie, Indiana 47304 at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 12, 2018, with Pastor Daryl A. Gilbert officiating. Family and friends may call from 11:00 a.m. until the time of the service at 1:00 p.m. at Elm Ridge Funeral Home.