Zonnie Mae Smith

On July 1, 2024 the Lord claimed another angel Zonnie Mae Jones Smith received her wings. Zonnie was born in Vero Beach, Florida on January 17, 1928. She was born to Annie Mae Southall and Charles Buster Jones. Zonnie graduated from Vero Beach High School and set out to attend beauty school in Miami. It was here she received her cosmetology license and met her husband to be Glen Wayne Smith, Sr. They were married October 12, 1953. In 1960 they moved to Hialeah to raise three children Glen Wayne Smith, Jr., Brenda Sue Smith Yeats and Charles Alfred Smith. On February 16, 1965 Zonnie was widowed and continued to raise three children on her own. She worked for 10+ years at Jackson Byrons Beauty Salon in Hialeah and at JC Penney distribution center at Miami Dade.

In 1980 Zonnie moved to North Georgia to the town of Chickamauga where she worked as a Manager for Flowers Thrift Store in Chattanooga, TN for 10 years. She retired from there after being held up in an armed robbery. It was during this time she found her calling in life as a preschool teacher at Oakwood Baptist Christian Academy. She loved the preschool children and they all loved Ms. Zonnie. After 10 years at OBC she retired and moved to Atlanta to be close to her children and grandchildren. Ms. Smith was preceded in death by her husband Glen Wayne Smith, Sr.; her son Glen Wayne Smith, Jr; her mother Annie Mae Southall; her father Charles Buster Jones; her sister Louneal Letchworth; and her brother Robert Earl Jones.

Ms. Smith is survived by her daughter-in-law of 50+ years Susan Lynch Smith of St. Simons Island, GA; her daughter Brenda Sue Smith Yeats (James) of Acworth, GA; her son Charles Alfred Smith (Melissa) of Cumming, GA; her grandchildren Mathew Aaron Barker (Jamie) of Cleveland, OH; Brittany Nicole Barker Keenan (Brandon) of Kennesaw, GA; Savannah Kaye Smith Reyes (Luis) of Gainesville, GA; Tiffany Mae Smith Haney (Nick) of Cumming, GA; and Caitlin Rae Smith of Cumming, GA; and four great grandchildren Anabelle Marie Barker of Cleveland, OH; Grant Wyatt Barker, of Cleveland, OH; Eleanor Jeanne Keenan of Kennesaw, GA; and Josiah Izaguirre-Reyes of Gainesville, GA.

Ms. Smith was the matriarch of her family and loved by everyone who knew her. She was always doing things for others. She was a caregiver and will be missed by all who knew her. She was 96 years old at her passing and was very proud of her age. She would tell people she was almost 100. She left behind a lot of dear friends at Highland Court Senior Residences, Kennesaw, GA where she lived the past 11 years