Judy Harrell Smith

Judy Harrell Smith died on March 16, 2023 in Angier, NC. She was preceded in death by her husband, The Rev. Dr. J. Thomas “Tommy” Smith. She is survived by her son, Paul Smith, daughter-in-law Kim Smith, and granddaughter Dani Wilburn all of Raleigh, son Thomas Smith and daughter-in-law Dr. Melanie Mabrey of Surf City, NC. She is also survived by her sisters, Jean Harrell and Billie Kaye Turner.

A retired teacher, she taught in the Wake County school system for over 30 years. She graduated from Louisburg College and Atlantic Christian College.

While her family was her first love, she also enjoyed traveling, including trips to Alaska, the Caribbean, Germany, southern California, and the Tulip Festival in Holland, Michigan. Judy was talented in many ways. Anyone who attended one of the dinner parties she and Tommy hosted will attest to her cooking abilities. She was a prize-winning seamstress, making her own clothes for years. What most people didn’t know is that she was an accomplished painter. Her outdoor scenes, still lifes, animals, and Christmas paintings are a joyful reminder of who she was. She was an avid gardener and spent countless hours landscaping and maintaining the yard and gardens around her home. In later years when spinal issues affected her mobility, she could be seen pushing a rolling walker loaded with gardening tools (including the occasional pickaxe) from place to place happily planting, fertilizing, and pulling weeds.

Memorial Service will be held-11:00 AM Wednesday, March 22, 2023 at Rose and Graham Funeral Chapel in Coats, NC. A private family burial will follow at Thomas Yelverton Evergreen Memorial Cemetery. Officiating will be Rev. Tom Newman.

The family will receive friends from 10:00 – 10:45 AM prior to the Service at Rose and Graham Funeral Home in Coats, NC.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Transitions Life Care at 250 Hospice Cir, Raleigh, NC 27607.

Arrangements by Rose and Graham Funeral Home in Coats, NC.