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BORN
1934
DIED
2021
FUNERAL HOME
3969 Mercer University Drive
Macon, Georgia
Rita Smalling Obituary
February 9, 1934 - December 19, 2021
Fort Mitchell, Alabama - Rita Marie Smalling, 87, went Home to be with the Lord on Sunday, December 19, 2021. A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00AM in the Mausoleum Chapel of Macon Memorial Park Cemetery with Pastor Mack Ballard officiating. Due to Covid, the in-person service is limited to IMMEDIATE FAMILY ONLY please. The service will be broadcast on www.facebook.com/MaconMemorialPark .
Entombment will follow in Macon Memorial Park Cemetery.
Rita was born in Orlando, Florida to the late Joseph Cestia Lawton and Irene Catherine Berke Lawton. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt and friend. Mrs. Smalling was a homemaker, who truly loved serving God and spending time with her family.
She was preceded in death by her husband, John H. Smalling III and her siblings to include Joseph Benjamin Lawton, Agnes Lawton Skees, Joe Lawton, Laura Mae Lawton Hallauer, Catherine Lawton Holland, and Robert Lawton.
Survivors include her youngest sister, Carolyn Lawton Marsh; her children, John Allen Smalling and wife Darlene, Valerie Jordan, Charlene Horton, Mark Smalling and wife Tricia, Dennis Smalling and wife Carol, Todd Smalling and wife Annette, Susan Cowan and husband John; 17 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; and numerous beloved nieces and nephews and friends.
We want to send a special heartfelt thanks to Brookdale Columbus Alzheimer's and Dementia Care in Columbus, Georgia who has helped care for Rita for the last few years and has become a part of our family.
Her host family is Mark and Tricia Smalling, 131 Holly Way, Macon, GA 31216.
Visit www.maconmp.com to express condolences. Macon Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery has charge of the arrangements.
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for Rita Smalling
2 Entries
Eugene Marsh
March 14, 2023
I miss Aunt Rita. She had a zest for life and a smile that was contagious. My brothers and I spent a lot of time together with the Smalling family when we were younger. They were such a large family that it must´ve been very challenging for them. Somehow Aunt Rita managed to love and care for 7 children and a sometimes demanding husband. I remember my Mom frequently getting her hair dyed over at their house ( I can still smell the lye) and that they were always drinking powdered milk (...yuck!). We always had a good time with the Smallings and felt loved. I remember that we took several road trips together to visit Uncle Robert and Aunt Florine in Alabama and once went all the way up to Virginia in our VW Bug to celebrate Allen getting his commission from the U.S. Navy. We´re all much older now and time is beginning to catch up with all of us. I´m so saddened by the sudden loss of my cousin Charlene as well. I´m glad Aunt Rita got to live a long life and know that she enjoyed it all the way to the end. God bless her kind soul in parting...
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SG
December 25, 2021
Please accept my heartfelt condolences on the loss of your loved one, may God give you strength and comfort during this difficult time. (Psalms 46 :1)
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