William J "Bill" Smith

View Video TributeWilliam J. "Bill" Smith, 93, retired employee of South Central Bell Telephone Company and longtime resident of Riverside Drive, died Tuesday, July 2, 2013 at Maury Regional Medical Center. Funeral services will be conducted Saturday at 12:00 noon at Oakes & Nichols Funeral Home with Wayne Hardison officiating. Burial will follow in Polk Memorial Gardens with military honors provided by Herbert Griffin American Legion Post 19. The family will visit with friends Saturday from 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 noon at the funeral home. The family suggests memorials to American Legion Flag Folding, 812 Nashville Highway, Columbia, TN 38401 or Columbia Academy, 1101 West 7th St., Columbia, TN 38401. Condolences may be offered online at www.oakesandnichols.com. The Hampshire native was the son of the late Volney Bingham Smith and Vivian Pogue Smith. He was married to Mable Ann Miller Smith who preceded him in death on April 27, 2012. He was a 1937 graduate of Hampshire High School and attended college at Michigan State. Mr. Smith served in the U. S. Army/Air Corps during World War II as a flight engineer on B-25's, serving in North Africa and the South Pacific on Luzon. He was later stationed on Okinawa and the occupation of Japan. He was employed by Southern Bell and South Central Bell for thirty-six years. Mr. Smith was a member of Telephone Pioneers of America and a sixty-seven year member of Herbert Griffin American Legion Post 19. He was a member of Northview Church of Christ. Survivors include one daughter, Wanda (Jim) Smith-Duncan of Nashville; one son, John B. Smith of Columbia; two grandchildren, Cara Danae Smith and Abby Lauren Smith, both of Columbia; two great grandchildren, Jalen Matthew Hunt and Isaac Drake Olguin; and several relatives in the Maury County area. He was preceded in death by one brother, Ernest Webb "Lefty" Smith, and two sisters, Elsie M. Smith and Sarah Smith Morrow. Family and friends will serve as active pallbearers. Honorary pallbearers will be Billy Smith, Dru Smith, Ron Atkisson, B. T. Atkisson, Jimmy Bailey, Cliff Miller, Peggy & Bill Jones, Daisy & Jack White, retired employees of Bell South, members of Herbert Griffin American Legion Post 19, and elders and deacons of Northview Church of Christ. The family would like to express a special thank you to his caregivers, Ollie Minor, Nida Bishop, Elaine Walters, Judy Stanley and Dr. Hrishi Kanth.