Abb Morris Smith

Mr. Abb Morris Smith, 83, died Thursday, February 3, 2022, at Baptist Memorial Hospital Desoto in Southaven, MS. The funeral will be Tuesday, February 8, 2022, at 11:00 A.M. at Yellow Leaf Baptist Church with Rev. David Ard and Rev. John Davis officiating. Visitation will be held prior to the service beginning at 9:30 A.M. Burial will follow in Yellow Leaf Cemetery.

Mr. Smith was born in 1938 to the late William Elvis and Ruth Nunn Smith. Born and raised in Oxford, MS, he held a strong sense of community and helping your neighbor. He was a faithful member of Yellow Leaf Baptist Church. Mr. Smith worked for over 40 years as a Carpenter at Grantham Construction. He was from the generation of hard and devout workers, always fully committed to the task at hand. After his retirement, he found any opportunity to be outside. On a warm, sunny afternoon you could find Mr. Smith on his front porch, watching the hummingbirds buzz and the squirrels scurry by. He’d wave at all who passed and was affectionally referred to as “Papa” by his neighbors. The most important thing throughout his life, and the reason for all of his hard work, was his beloved wife and children. In addition to his parents, Mr. Smith is preceded in death by his wife, Clara Faust; his sister, Melinda Kay Blackburn; brothers, William Smith, Clinton Smith, Johnny Smith, Joe Smith, and James Smith; and a granddaughter, Josie Leighann Smith.

Mr. Smith is survived by two daughters, Tracy Smith Miller and her husband, Mitch of Coldwater, MS and Melissa S. Johnson and her husband, Mark of Memphis, TN; three sons, Richard M. Smith and his wife, Paula of Oxford, MS, Jeffrey A. Smith and his wife, Angie of Oxford, MS, and William T. “Bill” Smith and his wife, Rose of Oxford, MS; four sisters, Peggy Cobb of Oxford, MS, Delorse Calfee of Oxford, MS, Rita Parott of Oxford, MS, and Betty Kesler of Abbeville MS; two brothers, David Smith of Water Valley, MS and Glenn Smith of Oxford, MS; as well as 11 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-grandchildren on the way.

Expressions of sympathy or memorial contributions in Mr. Smith’s memory may be made to the Yellow Leaf Baptist Church Building Fund, 50 County Road 435, Oxford, MS 38655.