Altha Bernice Smith, age 97, passed away Friday, September 14, 2018 in Independence, Missouri.  Condolences and fond memories can be left online at www.vansant-millsfuneralhome.com . Graveside service will be on Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 1pm at Englewood Cemetery, Clinton, Mo. The family suggests memorial contributions be made to Remnant Church of LDS, Independence, MO and may be left in care of the funeral home.

Altha Bernice Smith was born to Parley and Myrtle Smith at home in Skiatook, Oklahoma on March 4, 1921. She was named after Altha Nash who cared for Altha's mother during the birth.

Raised in Skiatook, Oklahoma, with her four brothers and two sisters, Altha attended primary and secondary school. During the Depression, Altha and her siblings worked various jobs to help pay the family's gas bill.

After graduating high school, Altha attended Northeastern Oklahoma Junior College in Miami where she was a quick study; earning her Mrs. degree in just four months, by marrying Hurbert Wesley Smith on December 28, 1941 at the home of his parents by his father Elder Alvin Smith.

Five months after marrying, Hurbert joined the U.S. Navy and was shipped out to the South Pacific leaving Altha at home. It would be a year and a half before they saw each other again, spending seven months stationed at Camp Patrick in California before being shipped out again. Altha returned to her parent's home and worked as a riveter at the Douglas plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma before the birth of their only child, Geraldine (Geri) Wayne Smith who was born on December 9, 1944 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

After the war, the family's first home was a farm outside of Miami, Oklahoma. Jobs were scarce and times were tough so Hurbert re-enlisted but to the U.S. Air Force this time.

The family spend the next 20 years living throughout the US and retiring in California in the late 1950s, enjoying the home they built and working on a large-scale honey bee business.

Altha was preceded in death by her husband Hurbert, and siblings Nelson, Othel, Harriette, Charlie, Glen, and Mildred. She is survived by her daughter Geri Richardson and grandchildren Monte, Leon, Paul Richardson and Lisa Carpenter and seven great-grandchildren.
Arrangements have been entrusted to Vansant-Mills Funeral Home, Clinton, Missouri.