Mary Lu Smith

Born Mary Lu Burton in Quanah, Texas, she grew up in Atlanta before moving with her parents to Nashville, where she attended Hillsboro High School. She went on to graduate from Carson-Newman College with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education. It was at Carson-Newman that she met H. David Smith, whom she later married. When David joined the Navy, the couple moved to St. Simons Island, where Mary Lu taught elementary school.

She and David eventually returned to Nashville for his work and to be near family. There, they joined Brook Hollow Baptist Church, where they remained members for the rest of their lives.

Art was Mary Lu’s passion. She was a painter, an art teacher, and a crafter of every kind, equally at home with a glue gun, a paintbrush, or papier-mâché. While other families’ houses smelled like cookies at Christmastime, hers smelled like shellac. She was a prominent member of the Tennessee Art League for decades and a prolific, well-loved painter. Mary Lu was also a puppeteer and puppet script writer, performing plays for Vacation Bible School children and in Nashville public schools.

She and her family were deeply loved at Brook Hollow Baptist Church, where Mary Lu taught Sunday school, sang in the choir, and led Vacation Bible School, both locally and in the mountains of Kentucky.

She was devoted to her husband, David, as he was to her — he often said he put her on a pedestal, and she deserved it. She was a dedicated mother who raised her children to be kind-hearted, independent, and strong.

In 2016, she moved to Atlanta, where she continued teaching art lessons.

Mary Lu Smith is survived by her three children, Kitti Murray of Atlanta, Beth Smith of Albany, California, and Joe Smith of Nashville; six grandchildren; and thirteen great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held Tuesday, August 25 at 2:00 pm at Brook Hollow Baptist Church, 678 Brook Hollow Rd, Nashville, TN 37205.

In lieu of flowers the family suggests memorial donations be made to The Room in the Inn in memory of Mary Lu Smith. Here’s a link https://www.roomintheinn.org/donate