Funeral: March 25 at Whelchel Grace Funeral Home. Burial followed at Dickens Cemetery, Taneyville.
Wilma “Dean” Smithson, 86, of Taneyville, died March 21, 2017. She was born Feb. 17, 1931, daughter of Roy and Beulah (Davis) Kennedy in Monett.
Dean and her husband, Clell, were longtime residents of Taney County. They received the Taney County Farm Family of the Year in the late 1950s. She worked as a cook and school bus driver for Taneyville School District from 1964 until retirement in 1991. She volunteered for the Forsyth library and sold for Avon. Dean was a Member of Taneyville Union Chapel for many years. She taught Bible school and sunday school. Her final years were spent at Ozark Riverview Manor in Ozark.
Survivors include her children, Roger Smithson and wife Sue of Bruner, Patti Coble and husband Rick of Nixa and Twila Clayton and husband Jim of Highlandville; grandchildren, Gregg Smithson and wife Claire, Joshua Clayton and wife Erica, Shana Danderson and husband Ryan, Dustin Clayton and wife Gabriela and Tara Coble; and great-grandchildren, Ian and Kennedy Smithson.
Dean was preceded in death by her parents; husband of 60 years, Clell Smithson; brothers, Kenneth, Gerald and Dale Kennedy; and granddaughter, Jennifer Boatwright.
The family wishes to thank the staff at Ozark Riverview Manor for their loving care for the past six years. The family also wants to thank the bus drivers at the Ozark Senior Center.
Memorials may be sent to Ozark Senior Center Transportation, P.O. Box 681, Ozark, 65721.
