Jo Ann Smith
Mrs. Jo Ann (Thornton) Smith, 80, a resident of Byhalia, Miss., and a former resident of Union City, passed away on Sunday, Dec. 24, 2023, at the home of her daughter, Ginger Richards in Byhalia.
Funeral services for Mrs. Smith will be held on Saturday, Dec. 30, at 1 p.m. at Union City Cumberland Presbyterian Church, with Bro. Glenn Watts officiating.
Burial will follow in Obion County Memorial Gardens near Union City.
White-Ranson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Visitation will be held at the church on Saturday from 11 a.m. until the hour of service.
Mrs. Smith was born on July 14, 1943, to the late Martha (Thompson) and Buford Thornton. She married Ronald Edwin Smith on March 30, 1963. He passed away on Feb. 6, 2017.
Mrs. Smith retired from the Union City School System after serving 32 years as a bookkeeper. She was also a member of Union City Cumberland Presbyterian Church in Union City.
She is survived by 2 daughters, Ginger (Bill) Richards of Byhalia and Kelly Martin of Atlanta; 3 grandchildren, Alex (Harris) Wolf and Austin Richards, both of Byhalia, and Chandler (Megan) Richards of Olive Branch, Miss.; 3 great-grandchildren, Blakely Jo Wolf and Greyson Richard Wolf of Byhalia and Vivienne Claudean Richards of Olive Branch; 2 sisters, Joy (Dwight) Grace and Debbie (Bobby) Wheeles, all of Union City; and 1 brother, Kenneth (Deborah) Thornton of Knoxville.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband.
The family requests memorials be made to Union City Cumberland Presbyterian Church; Obion County Hometown Walk of Hope; or the Arc of Northwest Mississippi for Autism Awareness at www.thearcnwms.org.
Condolences may be sent to the family at the funeral home website: www.white-ranson.com.
Published in The Messenger 12.27.23