Shirley Smith kept a lookout for people who exhibited a way with children and could enrich their lives positively. She constantly encouraged the young and the old to push forward, not rest on laurels.
"If she saw a little spark in you, she would help you expand upon it," said Karen Ross, who worked with Mrs. Smith at Atlanta's Coan Middle School. "She was determined to build new leaders in children, and she did it with adults, too. She was a wonderfully loving person and was loved by many people."
Shirley Ann Jones Smith of College Park worked as a social worker before settling into a 27-year career as a teacher, program assistant and assistant principal for various Atlanta public schools. She also taught classes at Spelman College.
In 2006, she was diagnosed with multiple myeloma cancer and given less than a year to live. She died July 10 from complications of the disease at the Wesley Woods Center of Emory University Hospital. She was 61.
A funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at New Life Presbyterian Church in College Park. She will be buried at Pelham Memorial Gardens in her home town. Willie Watkins Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
In 1968, Mrs. Smith graduated from the Mitchell County Training School in Pelham, in southwest Georgia, then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Morris Brown College. She held various degrees that included a master's in administration and supervision from Jackson State University, and a master's in special education from Georgia State University.
Initially, she was a social worker at the Wesley Woods Center, but in 1985 became a teacher. Besides working at Coan Middle School, she either taught or served as assistant principal at Kennedy, King and Walden middle schools; and at Fickett, Kimberly and Mary Lin elementary schools. She'd been an assistant principal the last 12 years of her profession; her last assignment was at Fickett.
Sharon Riley of College Park sang with Mrs. Smith in the choir at New Life Presbyterian. The educator's favorite activities, she said, were Bible study, Sunday school and the choir. When delayed by school matters, she'd still try to make it to practice, even if it were for a few minutes.
"She had a beautiful soprano voice, was very honest and ethical and loved children," Mrs. Riley said. "She was always constantly encouraging people to be active and involved in working with children, and she just had a way of helping people make the right kinds of decisions. She always encouraged people to move on with their careers."
Additional survivors include her mother, Bessie Jones of Pelham; a daughter, Nikia Smith Sellers of Atlanta; a son, the Rev. Shelvis Smith-Mather of South Sudan; three sisters, Juanita Nixon of Miami, Fla.; Girlean Dulles of Gainesville, Fla.; Beatrice Ellis of Cairo; four brothers, Phillip Jones, Roscoe Jones Sr., Woodrow Jones Jr. and Booker T. Jones, all of Pelham; and two grandchildren.
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