Glenda Cranford Smith

Glenda earned her Bachelor Degree in Home Economics and her teaching certificate at the University of Alabama. While there, she played the clarinet and marched in the Million Dollar Band. After college, she taught 3rd through 5th grade students in the Birmingham City Schools, retiring from Glen Iris Elementary School.

In her leisure, Glenda loved to travel worldwide, often taking family members with her. Her son Parke Sr., who accompanied her on an eight-day cruise to Central America, says, "She never went to Australia, New Zealand, nor Russia, but most other places on the globe had her footprints."

Some of Glenda's most memorable adventures were when she and a group from Samford University were among the first Americans allowed to visit Communist China. She and fellow group members took in several tourism sites, as their families and friends in Alabama prayed for their safety from the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, occurring while they were in the East Asian country.

You'd never know Glenda was afraid of heights! At age 53, she energetically climbed the Great Wall of China. Years passed, and she mounted and rode an unusually tall camel in Egypt, and later on vacation in Key West, Florida, she was convinced by her grandson Parke Jr. to go parasailing. She said she kept her eyes open most of the time the two of them were in the air, despite his constant teasing.

Home between trips, Glenda took up water aerobics, and at weekly luncheons and other gatherings with friends, she proved to be a fiercely competitive Dominos player. Family and friends enjoyed her home-cooked meals - her son Parke Sr.'s mouth still waters as he remembers her fried green tomatoes.

In addition to her parents, Glenda was preceded in death by her sister, Frances Jellison. Left to cherish memories are Glenda's son and daughter-in-law, Parke and Amy Smith of Homewood, Alabama; grandson, Parke Jr.; and special friends, Margaret Berry and Debbie Stone.

A Service of Remembrance for Glenda will be at 1 p.m. on Friday, April 19, 2024 at Ridout's Southern Heritage Funeral Home, 475 Cahaba Valley Road, Pelham, AL 35124. Immediately following the service, the family will host a reception/visitation from 1:45 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Ridout's Southern Heritage.

The family asks that memorial gifts be made to the Alzheimer's Association Alabama Chapter, www.alz.org/al.