Bessie May Wall Smith

Reidsville – Bessie May Wall Smith, 98, of 108 Brady Club Road, went home to be with the Lord Thursday, June 9, 2016 at Annie Penn Hospital. Funeral services will be held 4:30 PM Sunday, June 12, 2016 at Wilkerson Funeral Home with Rev. Ralph Clayton and Elder Dan Parker officiating. The burial will follow in Reidlawn Cemetery. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home and other times at her home. Mrs. Smith was a native of Rockingham County and was the daughter of the late Willie “Bill” and Fannie Bell Pryor Wall. She worked faithfully in the textile industry her whole career. She was a member of Afton Road Primitive Baptist Church. Mrs. Smith was the family matriarch always leading with faith and love. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend. Her generosity included friendship, home cooked food, cakes and pies. Along with her parents, she was also preceded in death by her husband, John Elisha Smith; her brother, Neal Pryor; and her sister, Edna Earl Wall Denny. Mrs. Smith is survived by her children, Melvin Smith and wife, Phyllis of Eden, Donald Ray Smith and Johnnie Faye Holbrook, Mary Ann Smith Cox and husband, Preston and R. Woodson Smith and wife, Carol all of Reidsville; grandchildren, Sherry Garrett and husband, Michael, Todd Smith and wife, Angie, Dee Sossaman and husband, Rick, Suzanne Johnson and husband, Jack, Mitzi Scales and husband, Tim, Jennifer Sammons and husband, Josh, Lisa Ellington and husband, Gary Lee and Jason Smith and wife, Brandy; 19 great grandchildren; 2 great-great grandchildren; and a large extended family. The family would also like to recognize her special caregivers, Linda Mims, Mattie James and Patricia Neal. Memorial donations may be made to Hospice of Rockingham County, PO Box 281, Wentworth, NC 27375 or Afton Road Primitive Baptist Church, 295 Sweden Falls Lane, Blairs, VA 24527. Condolences may be made to the family at www.wilkersonfuneral.com