Lucy began her remarkable life journey being born on December 21, 1937 in Pansey, a rural farming community in Houston County, Alabama. After graduating from Ashford High School in 1956, she began a public service career joining the Houston County Probate office and later the Houston County District Attorney’s office. She moved to the state capitol of Montgomery, Alabama where she became Chief Administrator for the State of Alabama Attorney General’s office. In 1987, she entered the private sector as a real estate agent in Birmingham, where she was an award-winning associate.
In 1993, Lucy decided it was time to embark on her own political career and was elected to the position of Alabama State Treasurer in 1994 and again in 1998. A life-long Democrat, she served as a delegate to the 1996 Democratic National Convention. In 2002, history was made as Lucy was elected as Alabama’s first female Lieutentant Governor, receiving more votes than any candidate in the State’s history She was nominated as the Democrat candidate for Governor in 2006. In 2008, she was elected to her final public service office as President of Alabama’s Public Service Commission.
Upon her retirement in 2012, Lucy moved back to Birmingham to be closer to her children and other family. She spent her final years doting on her grandchildren and great-grandchildren; she considered them her greatest accomplishments.
Lucy was preceded in death by her parents, Charlie and Nellie Bruner; sister, Nell Manning; and brothers, John and William Preston Bruner. Survivors include Lucy's loving husband, James Lee Smith; daughter, Becky Nichols; son, Louis Baxley (Jaime); sisters, Ethel Rabon and Linda Danford; grandchildren, Blake Nichols (Lauren), Preston Nichols, Lucy Camille Baxley, and Elizabeth Claire Baxley; great-grandchildren, Mary Harper Nichols, Julia Mae Nichols, and Philip Watson Nichols; and the father of Lucy's children, Bill Baxley.
A visitation will be 6-8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 18, 2016 at Ridout's Southern Heritage Funeral Home in Pelham, Alabama. Also, a visitation will be 9-11 a.m. on Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at Frazer United Methodist Church, 6000 Atlanta Highway, Montgomery, AL 36117, immediately followed by the 11 a.m. Celebration of Lucy's Life in the church's main sanctuary. The graveside service on Wednesday, October 19 will begin at 3 p.m. at Ashford City Cemetery in Ashford, Alabama.
While florals are welcomed, memorial gifts may be made to Frazer United Methodist Church in Montgomery, Alabama or to United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Birmingham, www.ucpbham.com.
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