Velma Frances Smith

Velma Frances Smith, 86, passed away at Hamilton Hospital Monday December 2, 2024. Graveside funeral will be 2:00 p.m. Sunday December 8, 2024 at Eliasville Cemetery in Eliasville, Texas. 

 Velma Frances born March 21, 1938 in Graham, she was the first-born daughter of Autie Bernice (Langford) Smith and Matthew Anderson Smith, both of Eliasville. She moved to Kermit with her family where her father worked in the oil fields of West Texas. 

She graduated from Kermit High School in 1956. She attended Texas Women’s University in Denton, earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education. She taught at Cameron Elementary in Odessa. In 1979 she moved back to Eliasville and taught at North Elementary in Breckenridge. After a 33-year teaching career Frances retired and continued to live in Eliasville. She was a member of the Church of Christ in Eliasville. Frances was an avid reader and loved to travel with her good friend Rita Steward, she traveled to 17 different states in the United States and abroad to Canada, Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Italy. 

 Frances was the oldest of eight children. She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister Betty Ruth, and a nephew Allen Culp. She is survived by five sisters, a brother, and several nieces and nephews. Her surviving sisters are Donnah Brown of Loving, Orlean Culp, Jean Burnett, Melba McDonald, all of Eliasville and Brenda Carter of Weatherford; brother, Max Smith of Poolville.