Obituary of Earl Benson Smith

Mr. Earl Benson Smith, age 81, of Ozark, died Tuesday morning, December 19, 2006 in Dale Medical Center following an extended illness. Funeral services will be graveside at 3:00 P. M. (E.S.T.) Wednesday, December 20, 2006, at Pine Crest Memory Gardens in Moultrie, Georgia with Reverend Curtis Eason officiating. Interment will follow, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. The family will receive friends at graveside Wednesday from 2:30 P. M. until service time at 3:00 P. M. (E.S.T.) Mr. Smith was born January 23, 1925 to the late Belle O'Neal Smith and Howard R. Smith, Sr. in Coolidge, Georgia, where he grew up and worked on his family's farm. He joined the United States Army and attended technical school training in Tampa, Florida. He met and married Jeanine Feroumont, his wife of 45 years, in Canada in the early 1950's. Mr. Smith was employed with Hayes Aircraft in the late 1950's, and then was employed with Combat Development at Fort Rucker where he retired in the early 1980's. After his retirement he lived in Floral City, Florida prior to moving back to Ozark. He was a proud veteran, and a loving husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather who enjoyed fishing and hunting, especially quail hunting. In addition to his parents and his wife, Mr. Smith was preceded in death by his sister, Helen Smith Devane, and his brothers, Howard R. Smith, Jr., Charles A. Smith, and Dickie Smith. Survivors include three daughters and sons-in-law, Beverly and Jose Canedo of Pine Mountain, Georgia, Michelle and Tim Reeder of Clopton, Alabama, and Kelly and Kenneth Moore of Ozark, one son and daughter-in-law, Richard John and Pam Smith of Dothan, Alabama, one brother and sister-in-law, Dewitt and Jean Smith of Coolidge, Georgia, two sisters-in-law, Betty Smith of Albany, Georgia, and Izolda Smith of Fayetteville, Georgia, a special brother-in-law and his wife, Burch and Rosie Devane, grandchildren, Wesley Daniels, T. J. Reeder, Austin Reeder, Ben Moore and wife, April, Shanna Smith Williams, Jonathan Earl Smith, Chad Holland and wife, Pam, Crescent Huff and Husband, Brandon, Victoria Canedo, great grandchildren, Gavin Williams, Katie Holland, and River Huff. Several nieces and nephews also survive. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in his memory to Wiregrass Hospice, P. O. Drawer 2127, Dothan, Alabama 36302, or to St. Jude Children's Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale, Memphis, Tennessee 38105. Service Information