Mary Jane Dandridge Smith

Mary Jane Dandridge Smith, age 92 of Calhoun, passed away on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at Gordon Hospital. Mary was born on June 18, 1923 in Miami, FL to the late George Gilmer Dandridge, Jr. and Mamie Crone Dandridge. She attended Elementary school in Little Rock, Arkansas, high school in Paris, Arkansas, and Business College in Little Rock, Arkansas. After Business College, she worked as a secretary for an engineering and defense plant in Jacksonville, Arkansas. Mary Jane married Edward Forrest Smith on January 23, 1944 in Paris, Arkansas. She traveled with her husband to Washington, DC and California while he was in the service. They resided in Little Rock and North Little Rock, Arkansas for 20 years, where they were active members of Asbury Methodist Church. Mary Jane attended a women’s Bible Study in the home of Jane Critz in Little Rock for nine years. When Bible Study Fellowship opened a class in Little Rock, she taught the women’s evening class. In 1966 Ed was transferred with the U.S. Corps of Engineers to Dallas, they joined Casa Linda United Methodist Church, where she taught Sunday school for over 40 years. She began a pilot Bible Study Fellowship Class in Dallas and continued as a teaching leader in BSF for 19 years before retiring. Ed and Mary Jane had the privilege of serving with the Billy Graham Conference for Itinerant Evangelists in Amsterdam in 1987 and 1988, and enjoyed traveling in Europe during that time. Ed passed away in 2005 and in 2011 Mary Jane sold her home of 45 years in Dallas and moved to Calhoun, Georgia with her daughter, Sarah and husband, where she joined the First Baptist Church and continued with occasionally teaching Sunday school. In addition to her parents, Mary Jane was also preceded in death by: her husband, Edward F. Smith, Sr.; two brothers, George Gilmer Dandridge III and Tillman Spottswood Dandridge; sister, Mamie Sue Dandridge Petty; and great-grandson, Forrest Smith. She is survived by her children: Edward Forrest Smith, Jr., Sarah Elizabeth Smith Weaver (Ricki), Jane Dandridge Smith Lumbard (Woody); grandchildren: Edward Forrest Smith III, Elizabeth Ann Smith Dunaway (Jordi Herold), Mary Catherine Weaver Dees (David), Jonathan Edward Weaver (Olivia), and Shannon Nicole Smith; great-grandchildren: Angelica Kirkpatrick Ralston (Lucas), Sierra Smith, Connor Dees, Lauren Dees, Catherine Dees, Simone Dunaway, Zelda Dunaway, Jase Weaver, Courtney Shaw, Ty Shaw, and Logan Lumbard; and many, many dear nieces, nephews and friends in Arkansas, Texas and Georgia. The family will receive friends on Wednesday, June 1st from 6 PM until 8 PM at Restland Funeral Home in Dallas, Texas. Funeral Services will be conducted on Thursday, June 2nd at 10 AM from at Restland Funeral Home in Dallas, Texas with Reverend James Minor officiating. Burial will follow in the National Cemetery in Dallas, Texas at 2:30 PM. The family will also receive friends at Thomas Funeral Home on Saturday, May 28th from 2 PM unitl 5 PM. In lieu of flowers the family requests that memorial contributions be made to the Calhoun First Baptist building fund at P.O. Box 758, Calhoun, GA 30703. You may leave the family online condolences at www.thomasfuneralhomecalhoun.com Thomas Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for Mary Jane Dandridge Smith.