Muhlenberg County Kentucky
Obituaries: S
Leslie Shively Smith, 1997
Drakesboro - Leslie Shively Smith, 89, of Drakesboro died Friday, May 16, 1997, at her daughter's home in Paducah.
She was born in Pleasant Ridge, was a member of Bethel Baptist Church in Drakesboro and was a Kentucky Colonel. She was a graduate of Wilberforce University in Ohio, received her M. A. degree from Western Kentucky University and did advanced study at University of Cincinnati, Indiana State University, Peabody College and University of Kentucky. She taught in public schools in Daviess and Muhlenberg counties and in West Virginia for 40 years, was one of the first blacks to serve on a commission of the Kentucky Education Association and was present when the Kentucky Teachers Assocation merged with KEA. She was a member of Delta Sigma Theta National Sorority, American Assocation of University Women, Delta Kappa Gamma Society for Women Educators, National Retired Teachers Assocation, Kentucky Retired Teachers Assocation and Muhlenberg County Retired Teachers Assocation.
She was also a member of the NAACP, Advisory Councils for Muhlenberg County Retired Senior Volunteers Programs and Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center satellite operation in Muhlenberg County. She wrote a newspaper column for the Greenville Leader-News from 1964 to 1997 and wrote a book, “Around Muhlenberg County - A Black History,” which can be found in libraries in Muhlenberg County and the surrounding area. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charlie “Cash” Smith, in March 1977; and a daughter, Leslie Charlene Tucker.
Survivors include a daughter, Patricia Carmen Robinson of Paducah; four grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; two nephews; and many cousins.
Services are at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Bethel Baptist Church in Drakesboro. Burial will be in the family plot at Pleasant Point Cemetery in Pleasant Ridge. Visitation is after 6 p.m. Monday and after 11 a.m. Tuesday at the church. Tucker Funeral Home in Central City is in charge of arrangements. The family requests that expressions of sympathy take the form of donations to Hospice, c/o Lourdes Hospital in Paducah. Memorial contribution envelopes are available at the funeral home.
- Source: Messenger-Inquirer [Owensboro, KY], 18 May 1997.
Updated April 5, 2024.