Annie Smith

Annie Mae Melton Smith passed from this life on May 5, 2013 while visiting her daughter in Leander, Texas. Mae, as most knew her by, was born on November 8, 1923 in Grant, Oklahoma to John Calvin Melton and Sally Edna Harwell Melton. Mae married Dillard on July 4, 1940, at midnight, at the foot of the preacher's bed! They had their first son Dillard Larry followed by their second son, Leslie Don, third son Ronnie Dale, forth son Jesse Wendell, fifth son Willard Butch Lindell, first daughter, Emma Sissy Yvonne and second daughter, Linda Kay. They moved to Morenci, AZ in 1946 and lived there until Dillard's retirement in 1982, then resided in Pima, AZ until their passing. They had been married 69 years, 11 months and one day when Dillard passed in 2010. Mae was an amazing woman, strong in many ways and overcame many obstacles in her lifetime. She was a great wife, mother, Mamaw, aunt, sister and friend to many. She was the epitome of a domestic engineer. Her cooking and baking skills far exceeded anyone known to our family. She prided herself in making all foods from scratch. Each of us probably have a different favorite with the exception of Papaw and Mamaw's Big Breakfast everyone loved to have their breakfast of eggs, hash browns, gravy, sour dough biscuits, bacon and sausage. Memories of her homemade yeast rolls' aroma beckoning neighbor kids to the back door for a sample is another example of her goodness! Since boys will be boys and are never quite satisfied she made them each their own pie so they would get their fill and not be concerned about equality/fairness in the slices! Mae could pack a mean picnic. Many family outings to the river or lakes included her fried chicken and potato salad and homemade cake or cookies! She was an excellent seamstress making clothes for her family and herself. She made Halloween costumes and all of Linda's formals and most of her dresses. She taught herself to crochet and made numerous afghans, bedspreads, baby blankets and booties. She enjoyed piecing quilt tops and tacking them together on her quilting frame that hung in the living room. She shared her knowledge and talents with many others and many have been the recipient of the labors of her hands. She loved working jigsaw puzzles and playing any kind of domino game whenever there were 4 to play. She lived her life doing for and giving to others always demonstrating that LOVE is an action word not just a feeling. She did have some household rules that she expected her children to follow no running in the house, no jumping on the furniture, wash your hands before meals, and boys were to wear shirts to the dinner table! When the boys forgot that last one, she finally gave up reminding them and proceeded to take off her blouse before she could get her bra unhooked, the boys were up and going to their room to get a shirt on! She also lived by the motto Don't put off until tomorrow what you can get done today - and she enforced it. Saturday chores were a given. If friends showed up to play before we were finished with chores, they were invited to help to speed things along. Mom had high expectations for her children and grand children but she loved each of us unconditionally. She always had a listening ear. She taught us to treat others as we wanted to be treated NOT as they deserved. Can't really remember mom complaining about her circumstances in life. She always told us regardless of how bad we might think we had it, that we could always look around and find someone in worse shape that we needed to be thankful and count our blessings. Family was of great importance to her. She cherished the time she had with each of us and our families as we grew in number she better enjoyed us when we could be up in the mountains at a family campsite and not all under her roof. Mae was proceeded in death by her loving husband, Dillard Leslie Smith; three children Dillard Larry, Ronnie Dale and Emma Yvonne Sissy; also by both parents; siblings Wade and Hugh Melton, Helen Doner, Ruby & Walt Grimes; and special nephews Royce and Donnie Melton. She is survived by her 4 children and their spouses Don (Peggy) of Pima, AZ, Jesse (Jackie) of Somerset, KY, Willard Butch (Sherry) of Odessa, TX and Linda (Bruce Campbell) of Leander, TX; 27 grand children, 54 great grand children (plus 2 on the way) and 7 great-great grand children from the states of Arizona, Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma and Washington; sister Edna McCullars; special nephew & his wife Bobby & Linda Melton (she thought of him as half hers); in laws Ernest & Christine Chapman, Molly Smith, Fred Tankersley, Margaret Clark; and many nieces and nephews as well as many friends. The best thing we can do to honor her and demonstrate our love for her, is to emulate her values and the lessons she has taught us as we live our daily lives. The following quotes reflect her being . . In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. - Mother Teresa Among the best things we can give each other are good memories. - Henry Nouwen Annie Mae did both!! Rest in peace, Momma! We love you!! The visitation/viewing will be held at 1:00 p.m. at McDougal's Caldwell Funeral Chapel on Saturday, May 11, 2013 with services beginning at 2 p.m. Interment will follow directly after the services at Gila Valley Memorial Gardens.