Shelly Sue Smith

Shelly Sue Smith, 62, loving mother of six and adoring wife to her soul mate, Reid Smith (Smoopy), passed away in her home in Exira, on Feb. 22, 2022.
Shelly was born on Dec. 13, 1959, in Harlan. She grew up on the family farm with her loving mother and father and her brother and two sisters. She became a mother at the age of 16 and continued to build her family and education. She raised Amy, Steve, Tonya, and Michelle in Griswold while she pursued her dream of being an educator. She obtained her Associates of Arts from Iowa Western Community College, with a major in Social Sciences in 1993 and her Bachelors of Arts from Buena Vista University, majoring in Elementary Education in 1995. Shortly after, she met the love of her life, Reid Smith, and his two boys, Adam and Caleb. Reid and Shelly were married in Red Oak on May 8, 1997. Her family was complete and she poured every ounce of her being into making sure her family was loved and nurtured. This is when her life truly began. Reid and Shelly showered each other with love and support and helped their family grow. The two of them shared more love than anyone could in two lifetimes. Together they enjoyed hosting family holidays, camping, kayaking, riding the Harley, and spoiling each other in the simplest of ways.
Shelly's working career started as a substitute teacher in Avoca, Harlan and she taught summer school in Treynor. She worked at Dana Glacier Vandervell for a short period of time before she discovered her love for mental health and assisting individuals with disabilities. Through her journey, she worked at REM Iowa Community Services, which is where she met her best friend, Missy, and they carried on together through CASS incorporated and Specialized Support Services. Shelly also worked for Southwest Iowa Family Access Center until she took a break from mental health to be a teller at Great Western Bank. Although she loved all her customers and co-workers at the bank, she still had a love for mental health. Most recently she held the position as a Care Coordinator at the Southwest Iowa Mental Health Center where she was able to work with her best friend's daughter, Megan. No matter what position she held in her life, she gave 110%. She prided herself in being able to be the best advocate that she could be for every single person that depended on her and went over and beyond for everyone she could.
Shelly's greatest love aside from her family was painting. She had an eye for beauty and captured it with every stroke of the paintbrush and was able to put it all on the canvas. Every painting was done with all of what she had.
Shelly had the brightest light and the biggest heart that was able to see the good, bad and the ugly. She saw the best in everybody individually and was never judgmental. Her love was and always will be unconditional.
Shelly is survived by her husband Reid of Exira; children, Steven (Tammy) Mahan of Atlantic, Adam (Abbey) Smith of Elliott, Caleb (Rebekah) Smith of Atlantic, Amy (Steve) Christensen of Atlantic, Tonya Mahan of Atlantic, Michelle Mahan of Atlantic; siblings, Terry (Debbie) Langer of Minatare, Neb., Ann Clemon of Shelton, Wash., Lisa (Andy) Christiansen of Council Bluffs; Mother-in-law, Jacque Smith of Macedonia, sisters-in-law, Kim Smith of Alexandria, Va., and Paula Peterson, of Davenport, 17 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, three nephews, one niece, two great-nephews, and four great-nieces.
Preceded in Shelly's death are her parents Robert and Glenda Langer; granddaughter Destyni Swanson; father-in-law Donald L. Smith; sister-in-law Diana Menzie; brother-in-law Dennis Peterson.
Celebration of Life will be held at 1 p.m., Thursday, March 3 at Schmidt Family Funeral Home in Atlantic. Visitation with the family present will be from 11 a.m. till the time of service at 1 p.m. at the funeral home.
The staff of Schmidt Family Funeral Home is handling the arrangements for the Smith Family.