Mrs. Rena Kate Smith

Funeral services for Mrs. Rena Kate Smith, 89, of Church Hill, will be at 10:00 a.m., Friday, April 5, 2024, at First Methodist Church of Henderson with Rev. David Luckert officiating. Interment will follow at Strong Cemetery under the direction of Crawford - A. Crim Funeral Home of Henderson. Visitation will be from 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., Thursday, April 4, 2024 at the funeral home. After 89 glorious years, Rena Kate Smith went to be with our Lord on April 2, 2024 surrounded by her loved ones at home. Rena Kate was the only daughter born to Isabell and JB Perry on January 10, 1935, in Church Hill, Texas. She grew up with 4 brothers: Wayne, Wilton, Ed, and John Ben Perry who she was close with all their lives. She met the love of her life, Orea Smith, at Henderson High School. They exchanged love letters while he was in the army, eventually marrying on November 1, 1958. She attended the Methodist College of Nursing and was a labor and delivery nurse for many years before going into private nursing. Her favorite job was being a mother to the 3 kids she and Orea shared, Sandra, Stan and Cindy. She enjoyed going to church at First United Methodist in Henderson where she was a hostess for many years and lifelong member of the PALS Sunday school class. She was a Rusk County champion pickle maker and made the best rice crispy treats you’d ever try. She sewed many outfits and baby blankets in her time. In her retirement she enjoyed traveling and playing chicken foot with her old lady friends. She was an avid Facebooker; She rarely missed her Friday hair appointments. She inspired several future nurses in the family. One of her greatest joys in life was being a Mimi, attending many sporting events, dance competitions, singing concerts, and renting out her place as a stock show barn for several generations. She went through several reclining chairs in her lifetime. She helped Orea tend many a garden, shell millions of peas and was a committed caretaker to him in her later years. She was a lifelong resident of Church Hill surrounded by lots of family. Her favorite way to start the day was to sit on the porch with a hot cup of coffee watching the sunrise and shooing the starlings away. Above all Rena Kate was a devoted sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother and will be greatly missed by her family and friends. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her loving husband of 63 years, Orea Smith; and her four brothers. Survivors include: her children, Sandra Kate Costlow, Stan Smith and wife Debbie, and Cindy Acres and husband Paul, all of Church Hill; seven grandchildren, Matt Bennett and wife Mallory, Leslie Fontenot and husband James, Miranda Walker and husband Gerald, Ryan Bennett, Shea Dorman and husband Chet, Chelsea Acres and husband Ryan Blankenbaker, and Natalie Acres; and 15 great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Geneice Perry of Henderson, and Mittie Ann Perry of Longview, and brothers-in-law, Dean Smith and wife Linda of Henderson, and Cotton Smith of Henderson; and most importantly, her dog Emma. Pallbearers are Michael Perry, David Perry, Mark Perry, Gus Witt, Sam Witt, and Braxton Bennett. Honorary pallbearers are Don Gage, Tony Perry, Troy Craig, Bob Minton, Denzel Mobbs, Dean Smith, and Cotton Smith. Words of comfort may be shared with the family at www.crawfordacrim.com.

Mrs. Rena Kate Smith

January 10, 1935 - April 2, 2024