THE ODESSA AMERICAN
http://www.oaoa.com/obit/obits050104.htm



Opal Smith

KERMIT — Opal Smith died at Kermit Healthcare in Kermit on Wednesday, April
 28, 2004. Born Opal Ophelia Kiser on November 4, 1913, in Fannin County, 
Texas, Mrs. Smith was the daughter of William Ellis Kiser and Nancy Myrtle 
Tollison Kiser, and she was the granddaughter of W. E. and Sarah C. Kiser and
 Horace Greenberry Tollison and Alice Lenora Richardson Tollison.

Mrs. Smith, who spent her early life on a farm, was educated in Fannin and 
Hunt Counties. She came to Winkler County as the young bride of Walter 
Everette Ford, now deceased. In 1960, she married Claude Brown Smith of Wink.

As a young girl, Opal Smith was received into the Baptist Church. At the time
 of her death, she was a member of Belvue Baptist Church in Kermit, a church
 family she loved and admired.

A retired nurse, Mrs. Smith worked for many years at the Winkler County 
Memorial Hospital, the Jal, N.M., hospital and for Dr. Peddicord in Kermit.

One of Mrs. Smith’s greatest loves was for nursing. She especially enjoyed 
working with newborn babies and their mothers. She retired as a nurse in the
 mid-1970s, but she never lost her zeal for caring for those who needed her.

Mrs. Smith is survived by her husband, C. B. Smith of Kermit; and by two 
daughters and one son-in-law, Jim and LaRue Moore of Odessa and Lois Coleman
 of Liberty Hill. She was preceded in death by four children, William 
Everette Ford, Robert Everette Ford, Dawna Fay Ford and Christine Ford 
Benton.

Mrs. Smith is survived by two granddaughters and their husbands, Mrs. Emily 
Hurt of Odessa and Quinn Henderson and her husband, Jim, of Liberty Hill; as 
well as by three grandsons and their wives, Don and Leesa Benton of Amarillo,
 Dee and Susan Benton of Midland and Devin and Coral Benton of Amarillo. She 
is survived by nine great-grandchildren.

Memorial services for Mrs. Smith will be conducted by the Rev. Gene Cannon at
 the Belvue Baptist Church, Kermit, at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 1, 2004.

Arrangements are entrusted to Family Services Funeral Parlor of Kermit.

The family wishes to give special thanks to Mrs. Smith’s doctors and nurses, 
the nurses and staff at Kermit Healthcare, the Retired Nurses’ Association, 
members of Belvue Baptist and her longtime friends and neighbors.