Willie Thomas Smith

Willie Smith

Funeral services for Mr. Willie Thomas Smith, of Dublin, will be held on Thursday, December 13, 2012 at 12:00 PM in the C. D. Dudley Memorial Chapel at the Dudley Funeral Home. Interment will follow in the Georgia Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 2617 Vinson Highway Southeast in Milledgeville. Reverend Veronica Lewis will officiate. Mr. Smith peacefully answered God’s call home on December 8, 2012. He was born September 5, 1906, in Colquitt County, Georgia, as the eldest son of the late Willie B. and Lula Smith, Sr. He was preceded in death by three siblings, Sam Smith, Willie B. Smith, Jr., Mary Smith and by a devoted friend, Lena Mae English. Affectionately called "Yump" by family and friends, he served in the United States Army during World War II and, until his death at 106 years old, he was the oldest living veteran in the state of Georgia and was the second oldest known living United States veteran. After serving in the Army, Mr. Smith returned home and began work as a chauffeur. He later perfected the craftsmanship of a painter and was known throughout the county for painting homes while attired in white starched overalls, white starched shirt and black tie without ever dripping a dab of paint on anything but the walls. Mr. Smith was a kindhearted man with a big smile and hearty laugh and was a big teaser. He was always willing to lend a helping hand and never missed an opportunity to share life lessons with his nephews and to share coins with his nieces. "Yump" led a simple, yet private, and at times, a spinster eccentric lifestyle that was understood and respected by family and friends. He will be missed dearly and leaves each of us with our own fond memories. Mr. Willie Thomas Smith is survived by one brother, Bivins (Mrs. Anne) Smith of Dublin; nieces, Keethe Smith Moore of Stone Mountain, Andrea Smith Allen of Dublin, LaShana Smith (Byron) Middleton of Lithonia, Chandra Smith (Kevin) Williams of Birmingham, AL, Sharon (Ernest) Robinson of Akron, OH, and Tisa Smith of Patterson, NJ; nephews: Bivinsky Wayne (Sandra) Smith of Atlanta, Eric K. (Eunice) Smith of Philadelphia, PA, Samuel Smith of New York, NY, Cornelius Smith of Patterson, NJ, Larry Ellison, Anthony Smith and Harris Smith all of Newark, NJ, Bernard Smith of Patterson, NJ, and a host of great and great-great nieces and nephews. Services By Dudley Funeral Home of Dublin www.ServicesByDudley.com