Josie Smith

NORTH RICHLAND HILLS -- Josie Glenn Smith, 101, passed away Monday, June 24, 2013. Funeral: 9:30 a.m. Friday, Shady Grove Baptist Church, 6649 Precinct Line Road in North Richland Hills. Interment will follow in Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Lucas Funeral Home in Hurst. Memorials: Should friends desire, memorials may be made to Union Gospel Mission of Fort Worth. Josie Glenn Smith was born in Aquilla on Oct. 3, 1911. She was the youngest of six children, two sisters and three brothers. Josie's mother passed away when she was only months old, so she lived with her grandmother until she was 3. Josie went to live with her sister, Dora, and her husband at age 12. At the age of 14, she was baptized in Christ in Cowhouse Creek, near Temple, in Bell County. As a young woman, Josie worked for Bell Telephone in Fort Worth. She married Lucian W. Smith in 1934, in the heart of The Great Depression, and remained by his side until his death in 1992. Lucian and Josie moved to Haltom City in 1940, then to Smithfield (which is now North Richland Hills) in 1946, where they started a dairy farm that operated for 25 years until Lucian and Josie retired in 1973. Soon after, they purchased a farm in Chico, where they spent many of their retirement years hunting, fishing and gardening. Their first son, Sammie Lucian, was born in 1939, and is regents professor emeritus of accounting at Stephen F. Austin State University, and Marvin Douglas, their second son, was born in 1947, and has been a homebuilder in Tarrant County for over 40 years. Josie led an active life all the way into her late 90s. Some of her many hobbies included fishing, drawing, oil painting, and gardening. She was always quick to offer a cold drink, or even an entire meal to houseguests, much of which was prepared using vegetables grown in her garden. The family is very grateful for her caregivers, companions and staff at Green Valley, who surrounded her with love and kindness, making her centenarian years very special. Survivors: Josie is survived by sons, Sammie and wife, Beverly, Marvin and wife, Jill; four grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.