Anita Elizabeth Smith

Anita Elizabeth Buhler Smith, passed away at home on Saturday, the 4th of December 2010, surrounded by family and friends. She was born on the 29th of June 1925, in DeRidder, Louisiana, to Eloise Kollmey Buhler and Fred Buhler.

She is survived by her husband of sixty-three years, Robert Ray Smith; daughter, K Smith Leonard, and husband, Marc; son, Robert Ray Smith, Jr., and wife, Anne; and grandchildren, Robert Ray Smith, III, Emlynn Adare Smith, and Andrew Keane Elliot Smith. In addition, she is survived by sisters-in-law, Joy Davis and Marceil Smith. She is also survived by her nieces and nephews: D’ita Buhler; Rick Buhler and wife, Shari; Ed Cowart and wife, Sheila; Jan Pickle and husband, Gary; Kathy Hall and husband, Lance; John Davis and wife, Kathy; Jim Davis and wife, Sharon; Karen Smith; and numerous grand- and great-grand nieces and nephews. She also leaves behind dear family friends, Lyn Hargis and Kathy Maer. Preceding her in death are her parents and her brother, Frederick Kollmey Buhler.

Anita met her “Honey” at the Air Force Base in DeRidder, Louisiana. Their long-distance romance lasted during his tenure with the 14th Air Force in China, through her days at the University of Texas, and until his return in late 1945. They married on the 27th of December 1946, at her parents’ home in DeRidder and moved to Houston shortly thereafter.

In a life well lived, Anita was warmly welcoming to all; most knew her, in the Southern tradition, as either “Sister” or “Aunt Sister,” regardless of relation! No one was a stranger—from friends of the family to clerks at the grocery store. Her grandchildren (for and from whom the devotion ran both ways) knew her as “Nana.”

She was a great lover of animals, whether they be HOrses, COws, POodles, DOgs, or CAts—the first two letters of each word forming the name of the beloved “Farm” in Hempstead, Texas, a place of much family joy since 1968.

The family would like to thank all the doctors, nurses, and caregivers who gave Anita such loving care. It extends an especial thanks to Dr. Linda Christians of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, who was with the family frequently in the waning days of Anita’s life, offering much appreciated words and thoughts of solace and comfort.

Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from four o’clock in the afternoon until seven o’clock in the evening on Tuesday, the 7th of December, at Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.

The funeral service is to be conducted at half-past ten o’clock in the morning on Wednesday, the 8th of December, in the Sanctuary of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Road in Houston, where Dr. Linda Christians, Executive Pastor, is to officiate. Immediately following the service, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent Hines Baker Room.

Once the reception concludes, an escorted cortege will depart for Memorial Oaks Cemetery, where the interment service is to be conducted.

If desired, memorial contributions may be directed to the Houston Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, 900 Portway Drive, Houston, TX, 77024; St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, P. O. Box 22013, Houston, TX, 77227; or to SIRE, 24161 Spring Drive, Hockley, TX, 77447.

From An Old Irish Blessing, let us say, “May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”