Delores Elaine Tate Smith

Raleigh: Delores Elaine Tate Smith, 74, of Raleigh, passed away on Wednesday, July 13, 2016, at New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington. A celebration of her life will be held at 2:00 P.M., Sunday, July 17, 2016, at Wilkerson Funeral Home Chapel in Reidsville with Rev. Gary Loftis officiating. Burial will follow at Pleasant View Assembly of God Church Cemetery in Caswell County. Elaine was born on April 13, 1942, in Rockingham County to the late Harry Robert Tate and Nellie Jarrell Tate. She was a 1960 graduate of Ruffin High School. She joined Clyde Wesleyan Church but later when her two sons joined Dublin First Baptist Church in Dublin, NC she transferred her membership there. Presently she attended Wesley United Methodist Church in Wilmington. Elaine retired from the Crime Control and Public Safety Office in Raleigh with 16 years of service. Her most rewarding job was helping with her grandchildren after that. They were the joy of her life. Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her sister, Debra Boulding; her brothers, Robert, Dewey and Cecil Tate; and her step-father, John Tate. She is survived by her husband of 54 years, Charles J. Smith of Raleigh; her sons, Charles “Chuck” Smith of Wilmington and Bart Smith of Raleigh; her grandchildren, Preston, Parker and Peyton Smith of Wilmington; her sisters, Lorene Lawrence and husband Dewey and Bessie Sparks; her brothers, John D. Tate and wife Betty and George Tate and wife Cindy; her sisters-in-law, Barbara Tate, Sandra Tate, Isa Parker, Joanne Parsons, Wyomie Kimbro, Glenda Davis, Sandra Smith and Jewel Frazee; step-sisters, Glenda Gunn and husband Starling and Betty Ellington and husband James; step-brother, Wayne Tate and wife Betty; brothers-in-law, Barry Boulding and Jerry Sparks, and numerous nieces and nephews that loved her dearly. The family will receive friends at Wilkerson Funeral Home on Saturday, July 16, 2016, from 6-8 P.M. and at other times the family will be at the home of her sister, Bessie Sparks, 1522 Hampton Rd, Eden. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Pleasant View Assembly of God Church, PO Box 2133, Reidsville, NC 27320. Wilkerson Funeral Home is assisting the family and condolences may be sent to www.wilkersonfuneral.com.