Vlessie Lee Smith

Vlessie Lee Smith, age 86, A life overflowing with love came to a close Monday, May 15, 2023, at The Journey Home in Dewey Oklahoma. She was born July 2, 1936, in Bartlesville Oklahoma to Charley and Thelma Sanders Gwyn. Vlessie attended Dunbar Elementary School in Dewey Oklahoma and in 1954 graduated from Douglas High School in Bartlesville Oklahoma. She attended Kansas Technical Institute College in Topeka Kansas. Vlessie met and married James Lloyd Smith, Jr. on October 2, 1955, in Kansas City Kansas and made their home in Junction City Kansas. They later moved to Fort Leonard Wood Missouri and made their final home in Dewey Oklahoma. To this union, God blessed the couple with seven children. Vlessie worked as a domestic engineer for a doctor and attorney in Bartlesville Oklahoma and in 1989, Vlessie moved to Chattanooga Tennessee and worked as a personal home caretaker to a prominent attorney and relative, Christine Gwyn O’Neal. She was a member of Saint Elmo Missionary Baptist Church in Chattanooga Tennessee, where she served as president of the Sunday School, Reverend Billy Church is the Pastor. In 2005, Vlessie returned to Dewey to be a caretaker to her mother, Thelma Sanders Gwyn. Vlessie was a faithful member of Westside First Baptist Church in Dewey Oklahoma; Reverend Micheal Diggs, Pastor. In 2010, she became a member of First Baptist Church in Nowata Oklahoma, Reverend Ralph Beavers, Pastor. Vlessie Lee Smith left many to cherish her memories. Children: Lloyd Charles Smith, Chattanooga, TN; Michele Renee Beavers and her husband, Ralph, Bartlesville, OK; Bernard Adrian Smith, Chattanooga, TN; Yvette Irene Brown, Atlanta, GA; Theodore Willie Smith, Dewey, OK; Grandchildren Damian Rogers, Bartlesville, OK; NaTasha and her husband Rashad, Crandall, TX; Angela Williams, Bartlesville, OK; JaLeesa Beavers, Tulsa, OK; Randi Smith, Bartlesville, OK; Jordyn Brown, Atlanta, GA; Rikki Catlett, Bartlesville, OK; Brandon Williams, Bartlesville, OK; and Cameron Williams, Bayard, NE; Sisters: Kathryn M. Poncil and her husband Ernest, Madras, OR; Augusta M. Hamilton and her husband Walter, Athens, AL; Patricia A. Anderson, Tulsa, OK and Thelma L. Gwyn Leachman and her husband JB, Bartlesville, OK; And a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. Vlessie was preceded in death by both parents Charley and Thelma Gwyn, seven brothers, three sisters; two sons; James Lee and Jerome William Smith, and former husband James Lloyd Smith, Jr.

Vlessie Lee Smith

July 2, 1936 - May 15, 2023