Thelma Juanita (Pons) Smith's Obituary
Thelma JUANITA (Pons) Smith, longtime Waldo property owner, died peacefully in her home on Saturday, May 11, 2019.
Juanita was born on July 1, 1934 in Waldo, the fourth child of Alline Pons & Thurman P. Pons and attended Waldo School. Her childhood was spent as part of a big happy family of ten children.
She married Clark Godbey Smith in 1949 and they spent nearly 69 years together. The two of them were a team that worked together to run a 100- year-old family farm, growing timber, cattle, food crops, and flowers over the years. In addition, Mrs. Smith took care of the home front including farm, home, and five children while Mr. Smith worked off the farm.
Juanita was sole caretaker for Mr. Smith in his last years of life until his death in 2018.
She was also preceded in death by her sons Clark, Darrell & Donald, her parents, her brothers (Pete, Jake, Pat, Herb, and Phillip), & her eldest sister, Eloise Neal.
She is survived by her daughters: Barbara Smith (Frank Bova), & Sherie Burch, six grandchildren (Hannah Burch, Katie Dhurandhar (Amit), Stacey Vargas (Dave), Graham Smith, Annie Allen (Andy) & Troy Smith-Bova (Doan BachTran)) & five great grandchildren (Damien McGuinness, Gabrielle Fraser, Abel Vargas, Ishaan Dhurandhar , & Scarlett Tran-Bova.). She is also survived by three sisters Bobbie McKeithen, Margie Waters, & Angie Anderson, & many nieces, nephews, and other relatives.
Mrs. Smith was a strong woman, in body & in character. She set high standards for herself and expected her children and other people she knew to live up to those. She worked very hard & that was important to her. It made her happy. She loved children more than anything and liked to teach them about the things she loved to do, like watching the wildlife, doing farm chores, & especially, growing vegetables. The week before she had a stroke and was hospitalized in March, she was harvesting the last of her winter garden, cutting huge heads of cabbage, collards, & mustard greens to share with visitors.
Juanita Smith could grow almost anything, but she loved growing vegetables the best because she believed in eating good fresh vegetables every day, for good health. That was just one of her many strong principles.
A graveside service will be held Thursday, May 16, 2019 at 9:00 a.m. at Laurel Grove Cemetery, 15350 SE 1st Ave, Waldo, FL.
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