MOLLIE MARTHA SMOTHERS

There was great joy in Heaven at 8:30 A.M. on February 2, 2020 as Mollie Martha Smothers passed from the bonds of this world and entered the pearly gates to meet her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ., to whom she had served for many years on this Earth.   Her Son, Jerry whom she had missed every day for the past 31 1/2 years, her Sister, Lavell and her Mother Mollie were certainly there to greet her, along with so many other cherished family members who had gone home before her.  Mollie Martha Smothers was born in Leonia , Florida on March 12, 1938 to Mollie Malkey Smothers and Alton Mose Parker.   During early childhood she lived with ther mother younger aunts and uncles, including her Grandmother Martha Ann who helped raise her.  In 1947 her mother married Dan Carroll, Sr. and they joined their families along with Dan Jr. (Junior), her step brother,  Soon came more siblings who Martha cherished all of her days.  There was Randell, Georgia, Lavell and Ruthie.  Martha loved her sibling deeply.  They did not have an easy childhood but the adversity they lived through created an unbreakable bond between them.   Martha married J. C. Crowder in 1957 and soon she had a family of her own with three small children.  There was Sylvia (1958), Jerry (1959) and Lorene (1961).  Times were not easy for Martha raising a young family but she worked hard and helped J..C. provide for their family.  She travelled to Pensacola to work at the Chemstrand factory for many years until her children were grown.  She entered nursing school at the University of West Alabama where she graduated from the Registered Nurse program in the early 1980’s. Martha had a servant’s heart.  After graduating from nursing school, she traveled to Arizona and throughout the Southwest working on Navajo reservations to bring healthcare to communities who were underserved.  She loved the travel and site seeing and she also loved to help people who desperately needed it.  She worked as a traveling nurse until the mid 80’s when she returned home to be near her beloved son, Jerry who was diagnosed with Leukemia.  During this time Martha studied to become a Nurse Practitioner and then worked with the Florida Department of Health in family planning until her retirement in the early 2000’s.  Martha was a very quick witted person.  She could sniff out a half truth or untruth in a second and she wasn’t afraid to hurt feelings in letting the offender know that she knew there was more to the story.  There was no gray area for Martha, she saw things very clearly in black and white.  She had an ability to be hilariously funny and absolutely serious in the same statement.  She seemed to love people most when times were the toughest; most likely a nod to her own upbringing and much of her adult life.  Se was a very tough and tenacious person and a very loving and gentle person in the same breath.  She knew just how to give the measure of each that every person she encountered needed.  She was certainly a joy to have known.  She was predeceased by her mother and father, her step father, Dan Carroll, Sr. her son, her sister, her step brother Dan Carroll, Jr., and her former husband, J.C. Crowder,

Among survivors are her daughters, Sylvia Crowder  Mitchem, Lorene Crowder McCart and husband Randall and her brother, Randell Carroll and wife Barbara, her sisters, Georgia Thompson and husband James and Ruthie Burgess and husband Ronnie.  Her grandchildren, Jeremy Tankersley and wife Hope, Justin Tankersley and wife Terra and Michael Moore and wife Crystal.  Her great grandchildren, Colton,  Cayden, Cian, Jay Riley, Eli and Jeb  Tankersley and Lillie and Noah McCart.

Floral arrangements are being accepted. Among those asked to serve as Pallbearers are Roger Burgess, Trevor Burgess, James Thompson, Steve Thompson, Larry Tankersley and Randall McCart.   A time of visitation will be Tuesday, February 4, 2020 from 6 until 8 P,M, in Jerry Evans Chapel.  Funeral services will be held Wednesday, February 5, 2020 at 10:00 in the funeral home with Reverends Kenneth Harrison and Tommy Green officiating.  Burial will follow in Cluster Springs Cemetery