On Tuesday, December 27th, the Lord called Debra Jean Smith, 59, home to be with Him.
Debi was born in upstate New York to Howard (deceased) and Victoria Smith. She is survived by her brother, Howard Smith (Katrina) and their children Christopher and Anna; sister, Veronica Griffin (Joey) and their children Michael (Brittani) and Joshua (Haley); and sister-in-law Mary Smith and her children Mark and Marissa. Besides her father, she was predeceased by her brother Martin.
After receiving her BA from Hyles-Anderson College and her Masters Degree from Pensacola Christian College, she taught at several different public and Christian schools. In 1993 she was recruited to join the staff of Berean Baptist Academy. She moved to Fayetteville and from that time on always considered BBA and Fayetteville to be her home. Over the course of almost 30 years, Debi touched the lives of literally thousands of students and parents. Her goal was to set the students up for success – first spiritually and then academically, teaching hands-on and practical lessons. She would gently guide the students to learn and delicately guide the parents to help their students do their work at home and at school. She was blunt and honest, speaking the truth in love.
Although her love was teaching 5th grade, she would also tutor any child that requested help – often at no charge. It was not unusual for Debi to make home visits and she made every effort to attend the sports games or fine arts events of her students. Over the course of time she would daily pull out her old yearbooks and pray for the students she had once taught. She continued to follow “her students” and mentor them as they graduated from high school, started their families and their careers.
Debi was a leader amongst her peers, often facilitating in-service teacher training at the beginning of each school year. She became the elementary fine arts director and served as a teacher and supervisor of the summer school for many years. Through the many book fairs that she led, the school was able to raise money to start a library.
Having been brought to the Lord through a bus ministry in her home church, Debi understood the value of the bus ministry and the impact it made on the children, their siblings and their parents. On Sunday mornings, she taught the 4 and 5-year-old children from the bus ministry for more than 15 years. She served in the church nursery for over 5 years where she loved to work with the youngest toddlers and she also played in the BBC handbell choir for several years.
Debi was the “life of any party”, a “morning person” (always the first teacher to arrive each morning), patient, loving and kind. But, any bug – no matter small, medium or large – was one bug too many for Debi. She was petrified of bugs!
Visitation will be held from noon to 1pm on Saturday, January 7, 2023, at Berean Baptist Church. A celebration of her life will follow at 1pm. The family invites all who knew her to attend.