Evelyn Rhodes Smith
Evelyn R. Smith, 91, entered this world on June 20, 1929, the first born of Lemma Rhodes and Margie Westfall Rhodes. She departed this world on August 15, 2020 from the Arthur B. Hodges Skilled Nursing Center of Edgewood Summit Retirement Community to transition to her eternal Home in Heaven and be with her Lord and those who departed before her. Her departure was peaceful, thanks to Hospice. She is survived by her husband, Theodore (Ted) R. Smith of Charleston, and nephew Steve (Jenny) Wilkinson of Pliny, WV, nephew Rod (Yvonne) Wilkinson of Florida and great-niece, Erin (Jason) Wilkinson Chisler of Maryland, plus two unofficially-adopted grandsons, Garry Francis, a Trinidadian, now of Canada, and Chris Heller, of Hurricane, WV. She was preceded by: Mother, Margie Westfall Rhodes Morris; Father, Lemma R. Rhodes; Stepfather, Everett Morris; Sister, Wanda Rhodes Wilkinson; all of West Virginia. Evelyn and Ted reached a remarkable 70th wedding anniversary this year, but because of the pandemic and Evelyn’s illness, they were unable to hold a celebration. It has now become their last. The couple first met in 1943 as teenagers at a church youth meeting. While singing the song, “Tell Me Why”, their eyes met, and they sang the words, “That is why I love you.” Their embarrassment was great, and the words now seemed to have been profoundly prophetic in nature. They never dated anyone else. Soon after Ted left for college, they ran away and got married, on March 3, 1950, to become “one”, and have remained united for 70 years. Most of Evelyn’s pre-school years were spent on a farm on Cabbage Fork in Roane County. Later the family moved to Charleston’s West Side where she received her early schooling. A straight-A student, Evelyn graduated from Woodrow Wilson Jr. High as Valedictorian and from Stonewall Jackson High School with Honors in 1948. College Prep classes were taken with special interest in Chemistry and Science. Shorthand and Bookkeeping were completed at Capitol City Business College, and some classes were taken at WVU while her husband got a Chemical Engineering degree. At age 14, Evelyn gave her life to Christ at Emmanuel Baptist Church, where she met her future husband, Ted. They have actively worked together to serve the Lord, in four churches and over many years, as they moved around. They worked together for over 40 years as volunteers in operating the U.S. Headquarters of a national Baptist Mission, founded in Trinidad and Tobago (FBMTT). There, her special skills as a writer were used in helping to produce a monthly newsletter and other literature. In 1973, Evelyn and Ted joined the Bible Center Church when it was relatively small. The joy of her life at BCC was as the founder and leader of the Ladies Bible Class (the first small group ministry). It was composed of women from multiple churches and reached about 50 in attendance. She taught this class for 23 years, eventually self-publishing a history of the group. Her skill was also used to prepare the history of the Bible Center Church and School. Additionally, Evelyn started and led, for many years, a Pioneer Girls unit for teenage girls, at Spring Hill Baptist Church. Evelyn became known as a Bible teacher and conference speaker, and as an active church worker for both youth and adults. However, Evelyn was most likely, and more widely, known as a prolific and terrific writer, especially of Christian and inspirational (true) stories, but may be best known locally, beginning in 1966, as a contributor to the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail “Essays on Faith” and “Write Your Own Column”. She was published in six editions of “Cup of Comfort” (Bethany House), and in 2015 she sold a manuscript to Bethany House titled, “The Stone Fireplace”. She had articles in numerous magazines: “Mature Living”, “Reminisce” and “Best of Reminisce”, and in “Grit”. She wrote for many websites and newsletters and found much joy and pleasure in submitting a monthly article for the Edgewood Summit newsletter over many years, which continued until her death. Evelyn was employed right out of high school as a Laboratory Technician at Commercial Testing and Engineering in Charleston (their first non-college graduate). Subsequently she worked for Morgantown Coal Testing Lab, The Ohio State University Fuels and Energy Lab, and Union Carbide A-Lab. For a year at WVU, she served as an assistant to a professor in the Entomology Department. Later she completed courses at WVU Mini-Medical College and qualified herself to do online medical research and did so for several doctors, and even had her own code into every major clinic. She was able to help many friends obtain medical information and to find clinical trials for “untreatable” illnesses. Evelyn was excited and proud to have been accepted to work as part of NASA’s Stardust Mission volunteer project and served for 11 years. Using her computer, and a virtual microscope which they supplied, the project, “Stardust@Home”, was searching thousands of gel samples looking for only a few small interstellar dust particles for study. Evelyn became good friends with some highly educated and trained people and was one of their highest rated “dusters”. The Spring of 2017 was a turning point for Evelyn. She had two significant falls, plus a diagnosis of mild Parkinson’s and Dementia symptoms. In 2019 and 2020 both symptoms, along with other health issues, became overpowering. Gates-Harding Funeral Home in Poca, WV will handle the cremation. See their website for information and future arrangements: www.hardingfamilygroup.com. Burial of her ashes will occur privately at Heavens Gateway Cemetery, Rt. 34 - Winfield, in our “family” plot that already contains our monument and 9 dogs. We hope to hold a “Celebration of Life” Service at Bible Center Church in about a month. More details to come later. Evelyn wrote this of her wishes: “I want my Memorial Service to be a joyous occasion, remembering the wonderful life that my Lord gave me on this Earth.” In addition, we discovered she wrote these very meaningful words: “I’ve loved working with my friends in Christian service. It has been the most important joy in my whole life. My one aim since accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, has been to spend Eternity with Him. All of my life, I’ve looked forward to going Home, where I will be with Him in Glory.” Evelyn’s family would welcome any stories of special memories or important events you remember from her life. A selection of these memories will be read at the upcoming service. Please take a moment to reflect and write down your favorite moments with Evelyn, and send them to: • Ted Smith, c/o Mount Calvary Baptist Church, 1509 Bigley Ave., Charleston, WV 25302 • cheller009@gmail.com Donations in Evelyn’s name to the following organizations will be appreciated. • Bible Center Church, 100 Bible Center Drive, Charleston, WV 25309; and, • Heavens Gateway Cemetery, 2820 State Rt. 34, Winfield, WV 25213.Obituary
Evelyn R. Smith, 91, entered this world on June 20, 1929, the first born of Lemma Rhodes and Margie Westfall Rhodes. She departed this world on August 15, 2020 from the Arthur B. Hodges Skilled Nursing Center of Edgewood Summit Retirement Community to transition to her eternal Home in Heaven and be with her Lord and those who departed before her. Her departure was peaceful, thanks to Hospice. She is survived by her husband, Theodore (Ted) R. Smith of Charleston, and nephew Steve (Jenny) Wilkinson of Pliny, WV, nephew Rod (Yvonne) Wilkinson of Florida and great-niece, Erin (Jason) Wilkinson Chisler of Maryland, plus two unofficially-adopted grandsons, Garry Francis, a Trinidadian, now of Canada, and Chris Heller, of Hurricane, WV. She was preceded by: Mother, Margie Westfall Rhodes Morris; Father, Lemma R. Rhodes; Stepfather, Everett Morris; Sister, Wanda Rhodes Wilkinson; all of West Virginia. Evelyn and Ted reached a remarkable 70th wedding anniversary this year, but because of the pandemic and Evelyn’s illness, they were unable to hold a celebration. It has now become their last. The couple first met in 1943 as teenagers at a church youth meeting. While singing the song, “Tell Me Why”, their eyes met, and they sang the words, “That is why I love you.” Their embarrassment was great, and the words now seemed to have been profoundly prophetic in nature. They never dated anyone else. Soon after Ted left for college, they ran away and got married, on March 3, 1950, to become “one”, and have remained united for 70 years. Most of Evelyn’s pre-school years were spent on a farm on Cabbage Fork in Roane County. Later the family moved to Charleston’s West Side where she received her early schooling. A straight-A student, Evelyn graduated from Woodrow Wilson Jr. High as Valedictorian and from Stonewall Jackson High School with Honors in 1948. College Prep classes were taken with special interest in Chemistry and Science. Shorthand and Bookkeeping were completed at Capitol City Business College, and some classes were taken at WVU while her husband got a Chemical Engineering degree. At age 14, Evelyn gave her life to Christ at Emmanuel Baptist Church, where she met her future husband, Ted. They have actively worked together to serve the Lord, in four churches and over many years, as they moved around. They worked together for over 40 years as volunteers in operating the U.S. Headquarters of a national Baptist Mission, founded in Trinidad and Tobago (FBMTT). There, her special skills as a writer were used in helping to produce a monthly newsletter and other literature. In 1973, Evelyn and Ted joined the Bible Center Church when it was relatively small. The joy of her life at BCC was as the founder and leader of the Ladies Bible Class (the first small group ministry). It was composed of women from multiple churches and reached about 50 in attendance. She taught this class for 23 years, eventually self-publishing a history of the group. Her skill was also used to prepare the history of the Bible Center Church and School. Additionally, Evelyn started and led, for many years, a Pioneer Girls unit for teenage girls, at Spring Hill Baptist Church. Evelyn became known as a Bible teacher and conference speaker, and as an active church worker for both youth and adults. However, Evelyn was most likely, and more widely, known as a prolific and terrific writer, especially of Christian and inspirational (true) stories, but may be best known locally, beginning in 1966, as a contributor to the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail “Essays on Faith” and “Write Your Own Column”. She was published in six editions of “Cup of Comfort” (Bethany House), and in 2015 she sold a manuscript to Bethany House titled, “The Stone Fireplace”. She had articles in numerous magazines: “Mature Living”, “Reminisce” and “Best of Reminisce”, and in “Grit”. She wrote for many websites and newsletters and found much joy and pleasure in submitting a monthly article for the Edgewood Summit newsletter over many years, which continued until her death. Evelyn was employed right out of high school as a Laboratory Technician at Commercial Testing and Engineering in Charleston (their first non-college graduate). Subsequently she worked for Morgantown Coal Testing Lab, The Ohio State University Fuels and Energy Lab, and Union Carbide A-Lab. For a year at WVU, she served as an assistant to a professor in the Entomology Department. Later she completed courses at WVU Mini-Medical College and qualified herself to do online medical research and did so for several doctors, and even had her own code into every major clinic. She was able to help many friends obtain medical information and to find clinical trials for “untreatable” illnesses. Evelyn was excited and proud to have been accepted to work as part of NASA’s Stardust Mission volunteer project and served for 11 years. Using her computer, and a virtual microscope which they supplied, the project, “Stardust@Home”, was searching thousands of gel samples looking for only a few small interstellar dust particles for study. Evelyn became good friends with some highly educated and trained people and was one of their highest rated “dusters”. The Spring of 2017 was a turning point for Evelyn. She had two significant falls, plus a diagnosis of mild Parkinson’s and Dementia symptoms. In 2019 and 2020 both symptoms, along with other health issues, became overpowering. Gates-Harding Funeral Home in Poca, WV will handle the cremation. See their website for information and future arrangements: www.hardingfamilygroup.com. Burial of her ashes will occur privately at Heavens Gateway Cemetery, Rt. 34 - Winfield, in our “family” plot that already contains our monument and 9 dogs. We hope to hold a “Celebration of Life” Service at Bible Center Church in about a month. More details to come later. Evelyn wrote this of her wishes: “I want my Memorial Service to be a joyous occasion, remembering the wonderful life that my Lord gave me on this Earth.” In addition, we discovered she wrote these very meaningful words: “I’ve loved working with my friends in Christian service. It has been the most important joy in my whole life. My one aim since accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior, has been to spend Eternity with Him. All of my life, I’ve looked forward to going Home, where I will be with Him in Glory.” Evelyn’s family would welcome any stories of special memories or important events you remember from her life. A selection of these memories will be read at the upcoming service. Please take a moment to reflect and write down your favorite moments with Evelyn, and send them to: • Ted Smith, c/o Mount Calvary Baptist Church, 1509 Bigley Ave., Charleston, WV 25302 • cheller009@gmail.com Donations in Evelyn’s name to the following organizations will be appreciated. • Bible Center Church, 100 Bible Center Drive, Charleston, WV 25309; and, • Heavens Gateway Cemetery, 2820 State Rt. 34, Winfield, WV 25213.
Events
Winfield, WV 25213