Hattie Elroy Smith

Mrs. Hattie Elroy Reynolds Smith, 76, of Paris died Tuesday, August 13, 2024, at her home.

Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 31, 2024, at Church of The Living God - CWFF Temple #344. Interment will follow in Greenwood Cemetery.

Visitation will begin at noon on Saturday at the church.

Hattie Elroy Reynolds Smith, affectionately known as Ellie, was the first child of two siblings. She was born on July 28, 1948, in Paris, TN to John Vernon and Clara Jean Reynolds.

Ellie was a 1966 graduate of E.W. Grove High School in Paris, TN, where she and her fellow students and faculty thrived and persevered through the waning years of racial segregation. Ellie transferred from Central High School to E.W. Grove in her sophomore year, where she and her sister Jean were among the first African-American students to integrate that high school. In prior years, she also attended the segregated Henry County Training School. After high school, Ellie attended Tennessee State University and received her bachelor’s degree in education in 1970. She later obtained a master’s degree in education from Valdosta State University.

She was married to Daryal Smith, her college sweetheart, and they made their home in Miami, FL. Together, they lovingly and enthusiastically raised their niece Ieisha Gray (daughter of the late Jean Reynolds Gray) as their own daughter. Ellie took great joy in also later joining her sister Jean in raising her dear nephew, Ryan Gray.

Ellie was a dedicated and tenured employee of Miami-Dade Public Schools and spent her career as a fifth-grade teacher, later transitioning into an administrative role as an educational counselor and departmental head. As was true in every other area of her life, Ellie’s beautiful spirit and warmth impacted all the students and colleagues who were blessed enough to encounter her.

She was an avid reader and history buff. She and her sister shared a deep love of books and instilled this same intellectual curiosity in Ieisha and Ryan. She loved to cook and was always looking to master a new recipe, and to recreate her mother’s famous meals. Ellie’s loving spirit made her home a place of comfort, joy and refuge where everyone was welcome, a sentiment commonly expressed by the friends of Ieisha and Ryan.

In 2014 following her retirement, Ellie returned home to Paris to be closer to her roots, family and lifelong friends. Ellie was a faithful member and treasurer of the Church of the Living God (Paris, TN), and in recent years found a home at Union Grove Baptist Church (Puryear, TN). In addition to being a member of Eta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., she was a member of the Jack and Jill of America, Inc. South Miami Chapter and Hostess Director of the Central High School Alumni Association.

Preceding Ellie in death were her parents John and Jean Reynolds, her sister Jean Carol Reynolds Gray and her former husband Daryal Smith. She is survived by her niece Ieisha Gray, nephew Ryan Gray and a host of loving cousins and lifelong friends.

McPhearson-Rawls Funeral Home - Paris 731-642-1515