Edna Mae Smith

Edna Mae Smith, born to the union of the Late Dozier and Genevia Jones.  Edna met and married Samuel Smith. To this union, five children were born, Cynthia, Freddie, Sandra, Samuel, and Priscilla.

Sam and Edna started their life together in Whittemore Street in Conway.  Having been raised in the admonition of the Lord, in 1963 Edna felt a pull in her spirit to reconnect to the Lord.  She found her way to Brown Chapel during a revival and accept the Lord. She yearned for deeper knowledge and teaching of the bible, so she called her close friends Laura Skinner and Stella Carter.  They went to a service at Mason Temple Church of God in Christ, under the leadership of the Late Pastor E. N. Brockington.  In 1964 they were taught to tarry in prayer until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Since the time of marriage, Sam and Edna lived with Sam’s family.  Edna longed for a place of their own.  She sought out a classmate that was connected with apartments and was immediately given a 3-bedroom apartment in Cherry Hill Projects. It was there that she got serious about teaching her children life lessons that would carry them all the days of their lives. Lessons like cooking, cleaning, working with good ethics, and how to manage money.  She also went against the grain of that era and taught her children about the personal intricacies of life such as love, sex, abstinence, and the pitfalls of not abstaining.  She always said, “...no child of mine will leave my doors and not be properly prepared”.

Sam and Edna and all the children wanted a house of their own.  They all worked and banked their money collectively to purchase land and build what is now the family homestead on highway 319.  They left Cherry Hill in June of 1979 and have enjoyed the quiet serenity of blessed land ever since.

The family loved and cared for Sam during his illness and subsequent death in 2017. The children took no thought to doing the same for Edna. They took shifts, trading off between the four of them with the help of Peggy and Mary Jones, Edna’s nieces by her oldest sister Mae Dee Anderson. The family was also blessed to have the assistance of Shaunette Gathers, granddaughter of one of her best friends, Mother Laura Skinner.  The children accepted spiritual guidance from Supt. Lee, Pastor Lawrence Williams, Pastors Juan & Nicole, Pastor Fred Folston who helped each of us come to terms with God’s will and timing.  We are forever grateful for such wisdom and understanding.

Edna spent her leisure time in service for the Lord.  Fasting, praying, shutting in for 24 to 72 hours at a time with Mother Skinner, Mother Carter, and Evangelist Della Woodard. They would get up at 4am and go to the church and cry out to the Lord for the people of God and the growth of the ministry. They truly believed in giving God their all!

Edna was preceded in death by her husband Samuel Smith, her parents Dozier and Geneva Jones, her sisters Mae Dee Anderson, Hazel Jones, and Mildred McMillian, and her beloved brother Edward Jones and her son, Elder Fred Jones.  She leaves to cherish her memory her children Cynthia Veal (Charlotte, NC), Sandra Hickman Peters (Conway, SC), Samuel E. Smith (Spartanburg, SC), Priscilla S. Fulton (Timothy, Columbia, SC); her close grandchildren - Wardrick Reese Veal (Pam), Christopher Veal, Sean Veal, Jeannine Hamilton (David), Daniel Leith, Allen Lieth, Nathaniel Lieth, Shana Hickman Moore (Fredrick), Michael Hickman (Doris), Rushnee Luckett (Virgil) and Emmanuel Smith (Candria).  And a host of great grandchildren, cousins, friends and loved ones.

Edna Mae Smith of Conway passed on August 4, 2022. There will be a viewing from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM, Monday, August 8, 2022, at Faith Temple Church of God in Christ.    A Funeral Service will be held at 1:00 PM Tuesday, August 9, 2022, at Mason Temple Church of God.  Interment will follow at Rose Hill Memorial Gardens.   The Ocean View Funeral Home and Beach Cremations, Conway Chapel is assisting the Smith Family.

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