Smith, Olene Arnold   	
  
PITTSBURG - Clovis Olene Arnold Smith went home to be with her Lord 
and Savior on November 22, 2007, after a short illness.

Services to commemorate the life of Olene Smith will be conducted at 
2 p.m. Thursday, November 29, 2007, at Crossroads Baptist Church in 
Pittsburg, with the Reverend Jay Van Zandt and the Reverend David 
Webb officiating. Interment services will follow immediately in 
Crossroads Cemetery.

Olene was born December 9, 1920, in the community of Midway, Upshur 
County, Texas, to William Franklin and Amanda Hammock Arnold in a 
Christian home and trusted Jesus as her Savior at age eight. She 
attended Union Ridge School before graduating from White Oak High 
School in 1938. Olene graduated from East Texas State Teachers 
College in 1942, with a B.S. in education.

She married her college sweetheart, Thurman Smith of Pittsburg, on 
October 15, 1943. She followed and supported Thurman throughout his 
military career at U.S.A.F. duty stations to include Texas, Oklahoma, 
South Carolina, Washington, D.C., Colorado, Alabama, Florida, 
California and Michigan. Olene successfully raised three devoted 
children through these many military assignments and periods of 
military separation.

Her special calling was elementary education and working with 
children. Olene retired as a school teacher after teaching in White 
Oak; Pittsburg (Crossroads); Rudyard, Michigan; and Lyons, Oregon.

Olene resided with Thurman in Lyons, Oregon from 1966 until her death. 
She was actively involved with and supported many community programs 
in Lyons, Oregon, and the state of Oregon through the national and 
local Grange organization. Olene and Thurman were very active in the 
Gideon's International Ministry of distributing Bibles around the 
world. Her hobbies included horseback riding and sewing. Olene was a 
member of Canyon Baptist Church in Lyons, Oregon for 41 years and was 
deeply devoted to serving her Lord and church by participating in a 
wide range of church programs.

Olene was preceded in death by her parents, Billy and Amanda Arnold; 
brother, Fred Arnold; sister, Oma Fowler; sister, Eula Mae Reynolds; 
sister, Lerah (Pete) Darden; and brother, Bill Arnold.

Those left to cherish Olene's memory are her husband of 64 years, 
Colonel Thurman Smith of Lyons, Oregon; son and daughter-in-law, 
Colonel Randall and Donna Smith of White Oak; daughter, Shari McDowell 
of San Diego, California; son and daughter-in-law, the Reverend Mark 
and Janice Smith of Lyons, Oregon; nine grandchildren; one great-
grandchild; sister-in-law, Sandy Arnold of Mesquite; and numerous 
nieces and nephews.

Serving as pallbearers will be Terry Darden, Hugh Smith, Reggie 
Reynolds, Richard Arnold, Vance Arnold and David Smith.

Honorary pallbearers will be John E. Smith, John D. Smith and Chris 
Arnold.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in Olene's honor 
to Gideon's International and sent to Canyon Baptist Church, P.O. Box 
222, Lyons, OR 97358.

Visitation with the family will be from 1-2 p.m. Thursday afternoon, 
November 29, 2007, at Crossroads Baptist Church, immediately preceding 
the services.

Funeral arrangements are provided by Erman Smith Funeral Home in 
Pittsburg.

Published in the Longview News-Journal on 11/27/2007.