Joan Hallmark Smith

A memorial service for Mrs. Joan Hallmark Smith, 76, of Nacogdoches, will be held at 11 a.m. Friday March 6, 2009, at Perritte Memorial United Methodist Church with the Rev. David Brasher officiating. Mrs. Smith died Tuesday, March 3, 2009, in Nacogdoches. Joan was born September 28, 1932, in Wapanucka, Okla., to the late Arthur B. and Sue Rigsby Hallmark. She grew up in Caddo, Okla., where she met her husband, A.M. Smith Jr. They were married on August 15, 1950, and lived in Sherman and Bonham, Texas, before moving to Nacogdoches in 1964. She graduated from SFA and taught school at Central Heights for twenty years. Joan was an expert seamstress and collected antique linens and tablecloths. She loved to garden and grew a bumper crop of tomatoes and peppers. She took delight in cooking for family and friends and for her church. Her sister Lynda visited every month, and they looked forward to cooking together and watching their favorite TV shows, especially "Dancing with The Stars." Favorite pastimes were working crossword puzzles, reading and playing games, especially Scrabble and Royalty. After the birth of her grandson in 1984, she was known by all as "Mimi," and she was looking forward to helping raise her first great-grandbaby. She was always positive, even while fighting her Crohn's disease battle for so many years. She will be greatly missed by all of her loved ones. Joan is survived by her loving husband of 58 years, A.M. Smith Jr; son, Arthur Smith of Nashville; daughter, Susan Lewis and husband, Chuck; grandson, Patrick Lewis and wife, Brianna; and great-granddaughter, Peyton Lewis, all of Nacogdoches; three sisters, Lynda Shelton, Martha Miller and husband, Gary, and Royce Prentice and husband, Wyman; three brothers, Jerry Hallmark and wife, Sandy, Bob Hallmark and wife, Lawanta, and Jack Hallmark; sister-in-law, Georgia Grandquist; and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her son, Mark Smith; and by her parents. Laird Funeral Home.