Darline J. Washington Smith

Funeral Services for Mrs. Darline J. Washington Smith, retired educator,  will be held on Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at the St. Mary C. E. E. Temple.  Rev. John Griffin will be the officiating minister.  Interment will follow the services in the H. V. Adams Cemetery.  Visitation  for Mrs. Smith will be held on Friday evening, June 23, 2017 from 5 – 7 at the St. Mary C. M. E. Temple.  Loche’s Mortuary, Inc. is in charge of the services.

OBITUARY 

Darline J. Washington Smith was born December 5, 1920 in Oak Ridge, Louisiana, the first child of the late Charlie and Julia (Givens) Washington. She attended Brigham Elementary School in OakRidge, later moving to Bastrop, Louisiana to attend and graduate from Morehouse Training School.

After graduating from Morehouse Training School, she began her teaching career at Brigham Elementary.  After Brigham, she taught at Ridgeway Elementary in Oak Ridge.  She attended Grambling State University where she earned a B.S. degree in Elementary Education. Having earned a reputation of being a respectable Mathematics teacher, Dr. Alexander added her to the staff at Westside Elementary in Bastrop. She retired from Westside in 1984.

There were many facets to Darline besides teaching. She always stayed busy cooking, working with Food Pack in Dotson Park, working as a volunteer auxiliary at the local hospital with her sister, Zenobia, for 20 years after retiring from teaching, and watching TV and sports. Her favorite shows were The Wheel of  Fortune and The Price Is Right. Her favorite sport was football. It did not matter if it was high school, college or professional, she loved football! She attended Pittsburgh Steeler games when her son, Kerry, lived in Pittsburgh. It would be cold and snowy, but she would sit there in Three Rivers Stadium enjoying the game.  She even befriended one of the Steeler coaches who attended the University of Arkansas with her son.  Nothing, however, was as important to Darline as her church, family and grandchildren. She loved her sisters, brothers, and all of her cousins. Most of her trips, locally or nationally through the years would be to visit family.

She attended St. Mary C.M.E. Church just as her father and sister, Brittie, did. She loved being a Sunday school teacher, and she loved her students!  She often gave out treats (sweets) after class. She talked about Sunday school and her students until her health did not allow her to speak easily nor frequently.

If you knew Darline, you knew there was nothing she loved, besides God, more than her granddaughters, Lauren and Maya.  They made her world-go-around! She would visit them every Thanksgiving in Pittsburgh or Ann Arbor and looked forward to them visiting her during the summer.  She was a “Grandmother Extraordinaire” sending the girls clothes, educational books, workbooks, food, money, cooking them their favorite dishes; anything she could cook, carry or ship-she sent them. She would always say, “I want to live long enough to see them graduate from college and they drive Grandmomma around as I did them when they were small.”

On the evening of June 12, 2017, the Lord called Darline (Doll, T-Doll, Grandmomma) home. She had done her work and some overtime.  She joins her parents, her aunt, Memory (T-Baby) Scott, her brothers: Houston  “Brah” and James “Bud” Washington, adopted daughter, JoRita Campbell and adopted son, Douglas (Ace) Goldsby in heaven. Left to cherish the legacy and memories of Darline are: her sister, Zenobia Williams; Son, Kerry Smith; Daughter-in-Law, Carolyn Smith; Granddaughters: Lauren and Maya Smith; Nieces: Tina Williams and Alicia Griffin; Nephew, James Washington; Great Nieces: Kristen, Ryann and Lauren Griggs, Jae Williams; Adopted Son, George Campbell; Sisters-in-Law: Alma and Mattie Washington – along with many cousins, extended family members, long-time colleagues, friends and former students.

 Service Information