Margaret Helen Smith

Margaret Helen Norman Smith passed away peacefully at age 88 and made the ultimate trip of her life on Wednesday, August, 16, 2017, from Waco. Funeral services will be 10:00 a.m., Monday, August 21, at First Baptist Church Woodway with Pastor Terry Graham officiating. Burial will follow in Waco Memorial Park Cemetery. Visitation will be 4:30-6:30 p.m., Sunday, August 20, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Funeral Home. Margaret was born appropriately on a Sunday, April 7, 1929, near Birome, Texas, close to the Catholic Cemetery in Hill County. She was the only daughter of John Daniel Norman and Pearl Zora Sealey Norman, among three brothers. She was baptized at the age of 12 at the Birome Community Church and served the Lord faithfully. She attended schools in Birome, Ross and West, Texas, graduating from West High School in May 1947. She was united in marriage to Charles “Chick” Wesley Smith on July 11, 1947, at the Birome Community Church by the Pastor William Gardiner Ellis. Her husband preceded her in death on November 26, 1984, and is buried at Waco Memorial Park. Margaret lived early on in Birome, Ross, Hubbard, Elm Mott, and Bellmead. She and her family moved from Bellmead to Corpus Christi in October 1965, due to the closing of James Connally AFB where her husband worked in civil service. She began working for the J C Penney Company in Corpus Christi in 1971. Then she and her husband moved to Hewitt from Corpus Christi in August 1981, after Charles retired in 1979. She retired from JC Penney in Waco in November 1992 with 22 years of dedicated service. She was a faithful member of First Baptist Church Woodway and the New Horizon Sunday School Class for over 30 years. She was active in all church activities until her death. She especially enjoyed the "Celebration Singers" and the "Goodtimers" events. She delivered Meals on Wheels for a while after her retirement and volunteered at nursing homes. She loved to crochet and made doilies and afghans for nearly all of the family members and lap blankets for some nursing homes. There was nothing that she couldn't or wouldn't do if she wanted. She could do almost anything and wanted things done right. Most of all she loved to travel. She went to Europe twice and traveled on guided bus tours for over ten years. Her first trip to Europe was in 1985. She enjoyed it so much that she decided to go back in 1990 on a trip that stretched from London, England, to Rome, Italy, and saw "The Passion Play" in Oberammergau, Germany. She was always amazed that "a little farm girl from Birome" was able to travel and tour overseas. Going to Branson and seeing all the shows was what she looked forward to for many years. She also loved to walk on the beach and hear the roar of the waves while living in Corpus Christi. She enjoyed and looked forward to faithfully going to pool aerobics, even at 5:00 a.m. each morning, for twelve years. Most of the women in the group were in their 80s and 90s. Attending the monthly lunch outings with the "Penney bunch" was another highlight of her retirement. The Birome Community Reunion, every 3rd Sunday in July, was always on her list, and she was present for the 100th Anniversary celebration in 2010 and the 100th Celebration of the Birome Tabernacle in 2016. She was able to attend the last one on July 16 of this year. She always said it was the people who were important and they should be remembered, not the buildings. She was preceded in death by her parents, who are buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Waco; and by her two older brothers, John Loyd Norman, who is buried in Concord Cemetery, Waco, and Clarence C. Norman, who is buried in Mt. Antioch Cemetery near Mt Calm, Texas; and sister-in-law, Dollie Lois Norman, who is buried in Laurel Land Cemetery, Dallas. Survivors include one son, Ronald G. Smith of Hewitt; her younger brother, Benjamin Thomas “B. T.” Norman of Dallas; sisters-in-law, Loreda Norman of Bellmead and Wanda Norman of Lacy Lakeview; along with several nieces and nephews and other relatives and many friends. She will be fondly remembered and missed by all who knew her. Pallbearers will be Deacons from the First Baptist Church Woodway. Special thanks to the New Horizon Sunday School Class for their continued support and to the Deacons of First Baptist Church Woodway for their Widows Ministry over the years. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church Woodway Building Fund; 101 Ritchie Road, Waco TX 76712-8545; to the Birome Church & Community Center; 175 FM 308 Spur; Birome TX 76673 or to the charity of your choice. The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our “Tribute Wall” at www.WHBfamily.com.