Obituaries published in the Thursday, January 17, 2002, edition of The Messenger.
Published 12:00 am Thursday, January 17, 2002
Dale W. Smith
Dale W. Smith of Troy died after a brief illness at Baptist Hospital in Montgomery on Jan. 13.
He was born in Des Moines, Iowa, to Roscoe E. Smith and Charlotte (Schneider) Smith. He entered the armed services at 21 and served proudly in Vietnam. His only brother, Harold Lee Smith, was killed in Vietnam in 1968.
Dale married Barbara A. (Smith) Smith in 1978 and raised two children, Douglas A. Smith from Carlsbad, Calif., and Airman First Class Maureen A. Smith based at Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota.
He was a master bomb technician in the United States Army for many years and, after retirement as a master sergeant, was employed by Lockheed Martin in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif. In 1998, Dale and Barbara moved to Troy and Dale continued work for Lockheed.
Viewing is scheduled for Wednesday night Jan. 16 at Skeen Funeral Home on George Wallace Drive in Troy from 7-9 p.m. Services will be held at St. Martin’s Catholic Church on Elba Highway on Thursday, Jan. 17 at 11 a.m. The family will be receiving friends at home after the service.
Interment for Dale will be Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002 at 2 p.m. EST at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors.
For those who choose to make monetary contributions, the family requests they be sent to the contributors’ veteran’s organization of choice in the name of Dale W. Smith.
Lillian Nixon Spear
Lillian Nixon Spear, 88, of Troy, died Jan 15, 2002, at Pike Manor Health Center.
Services will be held Friday, Jan. 18, 2002, at Fairhaven Baptist Church at 10 a.m. with Dr. Allen Atkins and the Rev. Jack Anderson officiating.
Burial will follow in Pine Level Methodist Cemetery with Kidd-Robbing Funeral Directors directing. The body will lie in state one hour before the service.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles W. Spear.
Survivors include her daughters, Estelle S. Money of Demopolis; Betty S. Caples of Gadsden; Elizabeth S. Anderson of Shady Grove, Fla.; Dorothy S. Nichols of Chicasaw and Jackie S. Mann of Summerfield, Fla.; a son, William E. (Bo) Spear of Ocala, Fla. and one sister, Mattie N. Vioxette of Prattville; and 13 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.
Pallbeareers will be grandsons. Honorary pallbearers are the staff and employees of Pike Manor Health Care Center.
Flowers or donations may be made to your favorite charity.