Winifred Smith "Winky" Arrendale

1919 - 2015

ARRENDALE, Winifred Winifred Smith "Winky" Arrendale, passed away on December 10th, 2015. She was born on July 10, 1919 in Statham, Georgia, the daughter of Annie Camp Smith Williams and Willie Josh Smith. Winky had one brother, Charles "Snuffy" Smith of Athens. Winky and Snuffy lost their father to complications of tonsillitis when they were very young. Their Mother remarried John Williams when Winky was 16 years old, at which time the family moved to Athens. Winky attended Brenau College/University for two years and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English. She was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta Sorority. Winky worked as a Civil Service Representative in Brunswick, Ga after college and during World War II. Once the war was over, she moved back to Athens and then to Washington DC where she worked as a secretary for Georgia Senator Richard Russell from Winder. (She enjoyed telling the story that upon moving to Washington, she wanted to be sophisticated and introduced herself only as "Winifred". A college chum dropped by the office one afternoon asking for "Winky" and the nickname stuck from then on.) It was during a trip home from Washington, that Winky traveled with her mother to Clarkesville in Northeast Georgia, to find a particular species of wild flower. It was on this trip that she met Tom Arrendale, fell in love, moved back to Athens, married on August 19, 1950 and settled in Clarkesville . Winky is preceded in death by her husband, Thomas Augustus "Tom" Arrendale, Jr. , who passed away in November of 2003. Tom truly adored Winky and would often say to us, "The only fault I can find with your Mother is that she might love you too much". When Winky moved to Clarkesville, she immediately got involved in her community. She created an "expressions" poetry and short story reading program, visiting the local elementary and high schools. She was top billing for most of the Assemblies. Winky also chaired PTA, served as classroom "grade mother" whenever the opportunity arose, chaired and decorated for the Halloween Carnivals and also spearheaded special programs such as vision testing. Winky taught all ages in Sunday School at First Presbyterian of Clarkesville and always volunteered in Vacation Bible School. Winky also helped cofound the First Presbyterian "Women of the Church". Winky was instrumental in organizing and starting the Cornelia Garden Club (she was a talented floral arranger....known for identifying any number of wild flowers on the side of the road while traveling 60 miles an hour) and the Cornelia Council for the Arts. Winky was a strong member of the Tomochichi Chapter of the DAR. She served as Good Citizen's Chair for 30 years and hosted the Good Citizens Tea in her home that entire time. Also to her philanthropy credit and her strong desire to help others, "The Winifred Smith Arrendale Cochlear Implant Endowment" was established at the Atlanta Speech School as well as the gifting of The Arrendale Library in honor of Tom and Winifred Arrendale at Piedmont College, Demorest, Georgia. (Continued in next column)