Mrs. Shirley J. Walker Smith, age 71, died Sunday, November 9, 2014, at the Lawrence County Hospital in Monticello. Services for Mrs. Smith were held on Friday, November 14 at the North Pleasant Hill Baptist Church, with Pastor Moses Johnson officiating. Interment was in the North Pleasant Hill Cemetery, with Laird Mortuary in charge of arrangements.

Mrs. Smith was the daughter of the late M.L. Walker and the late Rosie Walker Walker of rural Simpson County. At an early age, she joined the Oak Ridge M. B. Church, where she sang in the choir and served on the Usher Board. Mrs. Smith remained a member of Oak Ridge until she married and united with the North Pleasant Hill Church, where she served her Lord and Church as a Sunday school teacher, president of Deaconess and Home Mission, choir member, usher, church clerk, and a member of the finance committee.

In 1960, she married the late Deacon DJ Smith of New Hebron, and to this union one daughter was born. Mrs. Smith was reared and educated in the New Hebron area, and spent most of her adult life as a homemaker, mother, and grandmother for her beloved family.

Mrs. Smith’s survivors include her daughter, Cassandra Smith of New Hebron; two sisters, Alice (KC) Young, Jr., and Willine McDuffey, both of New Hebron; four brothers, Tommy Walker of Gulfport, Dr. Melvin (Geraldine) Walker of Fort Valley, GA, D’Otis (Patricia) Walker of Leland, and Rev. Samuel E. (Debra) Walker; three grandchildren, Deshawn, Jamarius, and Jamberlyn; all of New Hebron and a number of nieces, nephews, and other relatives.