Our mother, Bessie Smith, was flown on the arms of the angels from this world to meet her Savior, Jesus Christ, on January 28, 2013. Bessie was the youngest of 11 children and was baptized at the Arnhart Church in Purdy, MO. She enjoyed singing and listening to her father and brothers play the fiddle. Bessie played guitar and piano. She was raised on a well-known strawberry farm in Purdy, MO. She married at the age of 17 and worked along side her husband Amos whom she meet in the shipyards of Stockton CA where she was a journeyman welder. For the next seven years, she and Amos traveled and worked on many farms and vineyards. She also picked cotton and loved to fish. When asked what her greatest accomplishment was, she'd always reply, "being a mother".
Bessie is preceded in death by her husband, Amos Smith of Oakland, OR; parents Dan and Nettie Childress of Purdy, MO, and nine brothers and sisters. She has one remaining sibling, Tennie Tennison who resides in Monett, MO along with numerous nephews and nieces.
She leaves a legacy of love with her eight children: Connie Wandell (Robert); Sheila Kiszynski (Jan); Brenda Krueger (Jim); Jeanice Bruning all of Roseburg, OR; Steve Smith (Barb) of Oakland; Dennis Smith (Beckie) of Tacoma, WA; Richard Smith (Lisa) of Salem, OR; Pam Davis (Tom) of Alamosa, CO, 13 grandchildren: Shannon Wastling; Steve and Shane Smith; Selena Page; Jess Morin; Rick and Jami Smith; Wes Thompson; Lindsey Smith; Stephanie Kezar; Jeff Hagar; Cindy Shoultz; and Jennifer Murphy, and 11 great-grandchildren. A service will be held at Wilson's Chapel of the Roses in Roseburg at 1 p.m. on Friday, February 1, 2013 and she will be laid to rest following the service at Coles Valleys Cemetery.