Peggy Jo (Smilie) Smith

Peggy Smith, devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully on Dec. 22, 2017, at Baylor Scott & White hospital in Grapevine, surrounded by her family. She was unable to recover from an injury she sustained in a fall on Dec. 3.

Memorial services will be held on Dec. 30, 2017, at First United Methodist Church in Rosebud at 1 p.m.

Peggy was born in Rosebud on Aug. 28, 1924, the first child of Joe H. and Kathleen Souther Smilie. After graduating from Rosebud High School in 1941, she attended TSCW (now Texas Women’s University) and the University of Texas at Austin. She was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority at UT and it was there that she met her future husband, Owen R. Smith, at a sorority party. They were married for 66 years until his death in 2010.

She was a lifelong member of the Methodist Church and had served on numerous boards and committees within the church as well as preparing and serving meals for many church events. Peggy also taught Sunday School when her children were young. She could be seen frequently, over the years, working on the church grounds mowing, pruning, raking or whatever else was needed to improve the looks of the property. After a bout with cancer herself, she became a member of the American Cancer Society’s Reach to Recovery Program, visiting other cancer patients in the area providing information and support for their own cancer journeys.

Always the progressive advocate for what she believed in, Peggy broke the political gender barrier in Rosebud in the mid-1970s by being the first woman to stand for and be elected to the City Council. She was the third generation of her family to so serve in that capacity, her grandfather and father having served before her.

Peggy was an avid gardener taking great pride in her yard. Hard work and athletics helped keep her young in the face of her advancing years. She was diligent and meticulous in the pursuit of the perfect look for her yard and only in her later years did she require hired help for some of the more strenuous tasks. Even to the end, she still mowed, raked, hauled, dumped, pruned, sprayed, potted and nursed her beautiful plants and flowers almost daily.

To say that she was an avid golfer would be an understatement at best. The woman was obsessed with the game. Peggy’s association with golf spanned nearly nine decades. She began playing seriously in her early 20’s and quickly advanced on the wings of her natural athletic ability and insatiable competitive fire. A single digit handicapper in her day, she won numerous Cameron Country Club Championships as well as many tournament championships in the Central Texas Women’s Golf Association. Peggy played golf on at least three continents and forged lifelong friendships that transcended genders and generations. She was still actively playing at the time of her injury.

She is survived by two sons, Dr. Owen R Smith III and his wife Judy of Canby, Ore., and Terry and his wife Carol of Southlake; and six grandsons, Owen R. Smith IV (Lainy) of Portland, Ore., Brian Smith and Brandon Smith of Canby, Ore., Kyle Smith (Morgan) of Plano and William Smith and Steven Smith of Southlake; one sister, Patricia Irwin of Corona del Mar, Calif.

The family wishes to thank all of you who prayed for her and so freely offered your support during this time. We especially wish to thank Carol and Glenn Stock of Rosebud and the wonderful staff of Baylor Scott & White Hospital in Grapevine for their professional and spiritual care of Peggy during the last days and hours of her life.

Memorials may be made to the First United Methodist Church of Rosebud or to Woodland Cemetery Association, P.O. Box 795, Rosebud TX 76570.