Extracted from The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)
ELIZABETH SMILEY CONE
ELIZABETH SMILEY CONE, 96, passed away January 25, 2008 at Bright Glade Convalescent Home.
Visitation will be held from 3-6 p.m., Sunday, January 27 at Memphis Funeral Home Poplar. Funeral services will be conducted by Rev. Doyal Long at Memphis Funeral Home on Monday, January 28, at 2 p.m. Interment will follow in Elmwood Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee, beside her husband, Alvin M. Cone, a Hebrew Christian, who died in 1968.
“Beth” was the daughter of Charlie W. Smiley and Allie Knox Cubley of Laurel, Mississippi, where she graduated from Laurel High School. She completed the college secretarial course at Bowling Green Business University in Kentucky, and earned her B.A. degree and was a graduate student while serving as secretary to the Dean of the Graduate School at the University of Mississippi.
She was married to “Al” Cone of Richmond, Virginia, in 1940 at Memphis, Tennessee in the home of Dr. and Mrs. H.P. Hurt, pastor of Union Avenue Baptist Church, where “Al” was baptized. They lived in Laurel, Mississippi; Mobile, Alabama; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Memphis. Their three children attended Memphis schools.
She held several responsible office positions; she liked best being Administrative Assistant at the Mid-South Medical Center Council, Memphis. After retirement in 1971, she traveled extensively, both in North America and abroad. She enjoyed collecting stamps, coins, shells, making slides and tapes, and writing travelogs. She also had collections of family quilts and handkerchiefs.
Mrs. Cone was a member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Southern Dames of America, Daughters of the American Revolution, Pace Society of America, Eta Sigma Phi, American Association of University Women, Ole Miss Alumni and Beta Sigma Phi.
She rendered Christian service in several churches, notably McLean and Bellevue Baptist Church, where she was an active member.
Besides a wide circle of friends, she leaves three children, Charles J. Cone, Mt. Olive, MS; Sarah C. Hodges, Germantown, TN; and John S. Cone, Memphis, TN; five grandchildren: Laura Tatum Laxton, Jacksboro, TN; Timothy Brian Hodges, Olive Branch, MS; and Christopher Mark Hodges, Alpharetta, GA; Ellen Michelle Cone, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada; and Christy Jo Cone Shurden, Jackson, MS; seven great-grandchildren, Matthew Hodges Laxton and Rainey Elizabeth Laxton of Jacksboro; Avery Gail Hodges, Mia Marie Hodges and Neilly Rose Hodges of Olive Branch; and Rosalyn Marie Shurden and Katie Noel Shurden of Jackson.
The family requests memorials be sent to The Bellevue Foundation or the Memphis Shelby County Humane Society.
Memphis Funeral Home Poplar 901- 725-0100 www.memphisfuneralhome.net
Sunday, January 27, 2008