WINSTON-SALEM — Oneta Fitzgerald Smith, 90, died Monday, January 28 at the Fitzgerald Health Center at Arbor Acres, Winston-Salem, NC. Born June 10, 1922, she was the daughter of Rev. James and Hattie Fitzgerald. She was predeceased by her husband of 54 years, Rev. Dewey Smith, as well as one sister, Marie McBrayer, and two brothers, Bishop Ernest Fitzgerald and Rev. Alton Fitzgerald.
She attended and received degrees from Pfeiffer College and High Point University with majors in English and Elementary Education. In 1943, she married Dewey Smith. While he attended Candler School of Theology at Emory, she taught elementary school in Atlanta. After her husband's ordination into the Western NC Methodist Conference, she taught in various elementary schools in areas where they served. Mrs. Smith was an accomplished pianist and organist. She was an avid reader and enjoyed needlework and painting. She embraced the many roles of the wife of a Methodist minister, wherever her husband served for 43 years until his retirement in 1987.
Mrs. Smith is survived by two daughters, Anita Smith of Greensboro and Barbara and son-in-law, Rob Tedford of Hilton Head Island, SC, and three grandchildren, Doc (Ira) Kosinski, Stas Kosinski, Katrina (Matt) Woodruff and two great grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held at Westlawn Gardens of Memory Mausoleum, 6135 Ridgecrest Road, Clemmons, NC 27012 at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, January 30, 2013.
The family wants to thank the wonderful staff at the Fitzgerald Health Center where Mrs. Smith resided the last five years of her life. Memorials can be made to the Arbor Acres/Fitzgerald Center Employee Scholarship Fund, 1240 Arbor Rd., Winston-Salem, NC 27104.
Online condolences may be sent to www.salemfh.com
