Ada Lee (Brown) Smith

Ada Lee Brown Smith, 91, of Ezel, Kentucky passed quietly Monday afternoon at Central Baptist Hospital after a short illness. Born in Pomeroyton, Kentucky on August 25, 1928 to William “Bill” Brown and Lila Culbertson Brown, Ada was the youngest daughter and second youngest child of six children.

Ada married Clarence Smith of Ezel, Kentucky on April 24th, 1946, soon after Clarence returned from fighting in World War II. Blessed with sons, Clarence and Ada had three boys within three years. Ada was a mother, housewife, and farmer in Ezel until 1956, when the family moved to Dayton, Ohio to better themselves financially. Ada worked third shift in a factory making ice cream cones in Dayton. The family returned to their home in Ezel in 1961, where Ada returned to the life of farming and raising children and then grandchildren. Ada was proud of her children and worked hard to make sure that they received a good education and to instill in them the virtues that would make them good men.

From her home in a farmhouse in Morgan County, in the days before email and cheap telephone calls, Ada kept up a correspondence with her family who lived too far to see often. Her address book showed each time people had moved, and her letters were long and well written. She kept track of birthdays and anniversaries and any other special date. She enjoyed the letters and cards she received and decorated the house each year with Christmas cards from family and friends.

Preceded in death by her husband, Clarence, in 1988, and then her son, Larry Ray Smith, in 2010, Ada found her home too quiet and asked to move to Lexington. She found happiness and comfort at Sayre Christian Village, where she was a resident for the last 9 years. She remained active until the end, making friends and working jigsaw puzzles.

She was a member of Pine Grove Community Church for many years and a member of Pomeroyton Union Church, and for the last years, she attended Southside Church of Christ in Lexington. Except for illness, she never missed church.

She was also preceded in death by her siblings, Elmer Brown, Glenn Brown, Earnest Brown, and Larlie Kilburn.

She is survived by her younger brother Edison Brown and wife Wanda of Dayton, Ohio, by her son Prentice Lenwood Smith and daughter-in-law Nannette Robinson Smith of Lexington, her son, Anthony Earl Smith of Mount Sterling, Kentucky, and her grandsons, David Prentice Smith and wife Jill Christine Smith of Boise, Idaho, and Stephen Ray Smith and wife Natasha Noel Smith of Bowling Green, Kentucky, and by many nieces and nephews. Her love, her smile, and her laughter will be missed by all who knew her.

Visitation and funeral services will be at the Herald & Stewart & Halsey Funeral Home in West Liberty. Visitation will be Thursday, October 10, 6pm to 9pm. Funeral services will be at 1pm on Friday, October 11, with the burial following at Ezel Cemetery.   Ada loved the children of her siblings and treated them like her own. She requested that her pallbearers be her nephews.

Stephen and Natasha Smith

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Ada Lee (Brown) Smith, please visit our floral store.