Mr. Clarence M. Smith

FORT MEADE - Mr. Clarence Melburn Smith, 77, passed away Monday, August 24, 2015 in Lakeland, FL. Mr. Smith was born August 26, 1937 in Fort Meade, FL, and was the son of William Louis and Minnie Lee Martin Smith. After spending his early years of life in Plant City, graduating from Turkey Creek High School in 1955, Mr. Smith returned to Fort Meade where he has been a resident for many years. He was a former Fort Meade Police Officer, Polk County Deputy Sheriff, and was a retired maintenance mechanic for American Cyanamid. Mr. Smith loved spending his spare time doing carpentry work, but his primary love in life was his wife Edith who he married June 2, 1956 and his three daughters.
He was preceded in death by his sisters, Vera Mae Smith, Verna Lee Rhoden, Ethel Lorette Smith and Evelyn Marie Atanasoff; brothers, Clifford Louis Smith, Sr., William Raymond Smith and John Marvin Smith and Robert Wayne Smith.
Mr. Smith is survived by his loving and devoted wife of 59 years, Edith Mae Belle Douglas Smith, Fort Meade, FL; daughters, Tina Barnett and husband Connally, Fort Meade, FL, Tura Smith, Fort Meade, FL, Tona Crawford and husband Vern, Wauchula, FL; grandchildren, John Connally Barnett and wife Jenna, Addison Barnett and wife Savannah, Kristen Britt and husband Daniel; great-grandchildren, Jack Barnett, Sam Barnett, Brady Barnett and Madelyn Britt, and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be held 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., Wednesday, August 26, 2015 at the First United Methodist Church, 135 E. Broadway, Fort Meade. A Celebration of Life will begin at 5:00 p.m. in the church sanctuary with Rev. Marion Sortore officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Gulf Coast Alzheimer’s Association, 601 South Florida Ave., Suite 3, Lakeland, FL 33801.
Hancock Funeral Home, Fort Meade, FL 863-285-8171