Marcelline "Marcie" Smith

Marcelline Lide Banks Smith, known as Marcie by all who knew and loved her, passed away December 21, 2025 at the age of 103. Marcie's amazing life, lived during some amazing times, should have been a book, but she never slowed down long enough to write it. It was much easier to live it, and live it she did!
Marcie was born on February 22, 1922 (2-22-22), near the beginning of "The Roaring Twenties," in the town of Camden, an important shipping depot overlooking the Ouachita River. Her parents, Montrose Graham and Ethel Coleman Lide, were members of a prospering, second-generation, pioneer family in Camden. But Marcie recalled a day when her father came home very agitated; he informed the family that the Ouachita Valley Bank had crashed. It was 1929 and Marcie was 7 years old. The Great Depression had begun.
The next few years made a deep and formative impression on Marcie and her older brother, Jimmy. She would often say that "anybody who lived through the Depression is influenced for the rest of their lives." While there were material strains on the family, thanks to the family garden and fruit orchard, hunger was not one of them. Marcie and Jimmy, her only sibling, always had food to eat and to share with others less fortunate. Their mother had been a milliner before her marriage, and Marcie fondly remembered her mother taking apart the garments of adult relatives and sewing new patterns for them. She was a little fashionista-in-the-making and never wanted for something pretty to wear.
Despite learning to make do through hardship, Marcie cherished the memories of her upbringing. She discovered an early love of other cultures and cultivated her affinity for languages. Her maternal grandfather had worked in government service in Cuba, and she recalled being fascinated by the stories, music, and culture of Latin America. At a time when Spanish was not offered at Camden High School, she chose to study Latin for four years.
Marcie's mother was "very independent," and, she said, "never tried to hold me down." She spent many childhood summers on the serene shores of Mustin Lake and along the Ouachita River. These havens offered not just respite from the era's challenges but also a natural playground where Marcie honed her skills at swimming, a passion that would accompany her through life. At the age of fourteen, she swam three-quarters of a mile across Mustin Lake, and during high school she taught swimming and was Director of the Water Front at one of the Texas Hill Country girls' camps on the Guadelupe River.
Marcie's teenage years were emblematic of the era as her days were rich with parties, dances, and social gatherings among friends. Her graduation in 1939 from Camden High School was swiftly followed by a moment of personal distinction: Marcie was crowned Miss Tomato at the Monticello Tomato Festival. In a display of both her love for swimming and her flair for performance, Marcie executed a graceful dive into the pool-an act that caught the eye of an Arkansas Gazette photographer who captured the moment. The published photo was featured with the caption, "A Bathing Beauty Who Swims!"
Despite the Great Depression, Marcie's family was able to send her brother and her to college-a rarity at the time, especially for women. Marcie attended Christian College, a college for women in Columbus, Missouri. She studied English and Spanish at Christian College, which she described as Victorian and said had a strict dress code, and was enamored with its indoor swimming pool. After two years she transferred to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She clearly recalled the news on December 7, 1941, about the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The radio announcer on the Fort Worth station announced that "the United States is at war, and Texas shall join her."
That was her junior year in college in Fayetteville, but she nevertheless described her years at the University of Arkansas as happy ones. Her tenure at the university was distinguished by her affiliation with the Chi Omega sorority, where her leadership qualities led to her appointment as house manager in her final year. This role showcased her leadership and foreshadowed her future position as House Mother for Chi Omega, a position that brought her commitment to the sorority came full circle.
In 1943, Marcie completed her studies at the University of Arkansas, earning a baccalaureate degree in Spanish. It was during her senior year that she met Samuel "Bud" Banks, who was a flight instructor stationed at Camden Army Airfield. The two were married in 1944 and settled in Dumas on the Banks Family farm. Over the next few years, they began their family and welcomed three sons into the world: Bill, Sam, and Dwight.
As her children grew, Marcie brought her love of language into the classroom, beginning at Dumas High School as an English teacher. With time and persistence, she built a Spanish program there, enriching her students' lives with a language and a world larger than their own. Her commitment to Spanish didn't stop at the classroom door; summers often found Marcie and her students in Mexico, deepening their skills through immersion and experience.
After raising her family, Marcie pursued and completed a master's degree in Spanish, including a month-long immersion in Madrid. She spent additional summers in Mexico City, Monterrey, and Madrid, often with her brother, Jimmy Lide, and always strengthening her conversational Spanish and feeding her love of travel. Her teaching journey wove through Dumas, then Shreveport at a "magnet school," and on to Magnolia. Her dedication to education and the Spanish language ultimately included a tenure at what is now known as Southern Arkansas University.
During these years she often spent Christmas in Houston-"the big city"-and visited Galveston with her younger cousins, whom she called her "best girlfriends." She was the life of every party and there were many "monster parties," as she called them. She always said that vanity and parties kept her young.
In later years, she married Wilburn Smith, who passed away in 1988. Marcie chose to remain in Magnolia after his passing, but when her beloved brother-her lifetime confidante, traveling companion, and closest friend-passed away in 1994, Marcie moved to Little Rock, where she remained until her death.
In Little Rock, Marcie began teaching Spanish at LifeQuest, a senior adult education program, and she continued teaching for more than twenty years, saying, "It's fun and it keeps me connected with the language, so I don't forget it." Many who started her courses remained for years and became friends. A lifelong Methodist, she remained active at St. James United Methodist Church. A lover of culture and supporter of the arts, she volunteered at what was then the Arkansas Art Center and supported the Arkansas Symphony Orchestra.
Marcie stayed in contact with close friends from every stage of her life and also became a vibrant part of the community at Windsor Court in Little Rock. Her friends there threw a big party for her 100th birthday-her second 2-22-22-which was featured on a local television station. Her sons held a large celebration for her at The Capital Hotel as well, attended by folks far and near, friends that Marcie had cultivated over a lifetime. Her centennial year also brought recognition through an article in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
In 2023, Marcie hosted her family for Thanksgiving weekend at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, where her son Dwight lives. She loved orchestrating big events, especially when it meant gathering up her family, especially her great-grandchildren.
Marcie moved to The Blake in 2024, keeping an active social calendar. At 102, she was more than a little peeved when she didn't pass the driving test and lost her license. She was ready to renew for four more years! She told her son Dwight that if she just studied harder and took it again, she was sure she'd pass. Dwight, who lived in California, stayed with his mother for several months in 2024 and was by her side most of 2025 as she transitioned out of independence and experienced failing health. Her oldest son, Bill, and his wife, Annette, made frequent visits, as did grandchildren. Just before her death, Marcie was able to meet her newest great-grandchild-the eighth-by FaceTime and welcome little Banks Montgomery Monroe to the world.
Preceding Marcie in death were her parents, Montrose Graham and Ethel Mae Lide of Camden, Arkansas, and her brother, Jimmy Lide, of Detroit. Five years earlier, on the same date Marcie passed away, she lost her beloved second son, Samuel "Sam" Lide Banks.
Marcie is survived by her sons Bill Banks and his wife, Annette, and James "Dwight" Banks and his wife, Cheryl. She was blessed with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren, including Alexander "Zan" Banks and his wife, Jeanna, and their son Harrison; Lide Goodwin and her husband, Charles, and their two children, Stewart and Eloise; and Sibby Schlaudecker and her husband, Chris, and their daughter, Katie Sib. Marcie is also survived by her granddaughter Adriana Banks Monroe, daughter of her late son Sam and his former wife Adriana Longoria, and Adriana's husband, Mark, and their children, Adrianita and Banks Montgomery. Dwight and Cheryl's sons, Sean and Chad, also survive her.
Marcie graced this world with her presence for more than a century, leaving behind echoes of laughter, lessons imparted, lives touched, and a breadth of experiences that most of us can only dream of. From the groves, lakes, and rivers of Camden to the classrooms where she inspired countless minds, Marcie's life was marked by dedication, adventure, and deep loyalty to the people she loved. She traveled the world with her brother and with friends. She was a devoted educator, a loving matriarch, and a cherished friend. She embodied the spirit of a Dylan Thomas poem, "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night."
Marcelline Lide Banks Smith did not go gently-she drank life down to the last sweet drop. Her light will remain, much like stars that, though extinguished, continue to grace the night with their light. Her light was liberally and generously shared and is now carried within all who knew her.
The family plans to have a memorial service at St. James Methodist Church in Little Rock in late January. Service times will be updated when they become available. Donations in Marcie's memory may be made to the LifeQuest program at the Second Presbyterian Church in Little Rock or the Thompson Youth Scholarship Fund or the Music Department at St. James Methodist Church, or the charity of your choice. Arrangements are under the direction of RuebelFuneralHome.com