Dorothy Darnell "Dottie" Smith passed away peacefully on Aug. 21, 2019, after suffering from dementia for at least five years.
Dottie was born on Nov. 24, 1938 at noon on Thanksgiving Day to Andrew Garner and Doris Brown Darnell in Laurel. She was a very caring and compassionate person throughout her life with a real sensitivity for the “underdogs” in our world.
After graduating with her RN from Methodist Hospital School of Nursing in Memphis, she was enrolled as a Fellowship Nurse at Saint Louis University for her BSN, which she received in 1960.
Since she was 13, Dottie felt a call to be a medical missionary to the Congo, a calling which would require a year of preparation in a seminary. She ultimately ended up at Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. Here, she met her future husband, Robert E. Smith Jr. Bob and Dottie married on Aug. 31, 1963 in Laurel.
They spent their first year of marriage in Lumberton, N.C., where she taught at SE General Hospital School of Nursing. During their return to seminary, she taught at St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta. They were commissioned as Presbyterian U.S. missionaries in August 1965 and moved to Brussels, Belgium, for a year of French language study. Their first daughter, Sherry Leigh, was born that year. In July 1966, they moved to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They lived in Luebo for three weeks, before moving to Lubondayi so that Dottie could serve the missionary children at Central School. They lived there until their second daughter, Laura Kristen, was born on July 1, 1967, in Bulape. Several months after her birth, they moved to Kananga/Luluabourg, where she worked with one of our doctors, helping couples with pregnancy issues.
The family moved back to the U.S. in July 1969, and lived St. Petersburg, Fla., for five years, where she worked in neo-natal ICU at All Children’s Hospital. In 1974, they moved to Charlotte, N.C., where Dottie taught at Presbyterian Hospital’s School of Nursing, and later worked with two cardiologists. In 1987, the family moved to Clinton, S.C. Dottie spent two years as a RN in the PC infirmary. Her final working years were with Laurens County Mental Health directing a day care facility for adults with Mary Byrd.
For a number of years, Dottie successfully pursued a secondary career writing for children. She was published in a number of magazines, including Highlights for Children, Ranger Rick, US Kids, Cricket, Fun for Kidz and was published in a Christmas edition of Chicken Soup for the Soul.
Dottie is survived by her husband of 55 years Robert E. Smith Jr.; two daughters, Sherry Smith Joines (Tim) and Kristie Smith Brown; four grandchildren, Kirtley Baez (Ray) and Andrew “Drew” Brown of Greenville and Kylie and Erin Joines of South Bend, Ind.; and nephew Trey Lawrence of Pensacola, Fla.
She was predeceased by her parents Andrew Garner and Doris Brown Darnell of Laurel; and her sister Margaret Ann “Peggy” Lawrence of Brandon.
Dottie requested a small memorial service. The service and internment will be at The Nancy Sibley Memorial Garden, at Montreat, N.C., on Oct. 26. Rev. James T. Richardson will officiate.
Memorials may be made to Columbia Theological Seminary, P.O. Box 520, Decatur, GA 30031; The PCUSA fund for missionary support for Larry and Inge Sthreshley (Congo – E200412), P.O. Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700; The Girl Scouts of Greater MS, 1471 West County Line Road, Jackson, MS 39213; Hospice of Laurens County, 1304 Springdale Drive, Clinton, SC 29325; or the charity of your choice.
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