Kathryn Smith

Kathryn Verner was born on September 30, 1924 to Tom and Gracie Verner. She died peacefully at 7:45 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18, and will be missed beyond words. \r\n\r\nKathryn spent the first seventeen years of her life in Meadow, Texas with her three brothers and two sisters before leaving for Texas Tech University (then College) in 1942. Upon graduating with a B.S. in Home Economics Education in 1946, she immediately left for Mercedes in the Lower Rio Grande Valley where she taught Home Economics and was the cafeteria director in the junior high school. What followed, to put it in her own words, "was the most important move of my entire life. I had a room with Mrs. White, who lived next door to Mrs. Betty Robinson. I met her grandson, Billy Earle Smith when he came home from serving in the U.S. Merchant Marine after the end of WWII." Their marriage two-and-a-half years later lasted for sixty years until Billy Earle's death in 2008. The newlyweds lived in Port Arthur where Kathryn worked for the power company, Gulf States Utilities, as a Home Service Advisor teaching ladies how to use the "new" electrical appliances while Billy Earle sailed on tankers for Gulf Oil. Kathryn began working full-time in the home on the birth of Robert in 1958, followed by Charles two years later. Subsequently, Captain Billy Earle's work ashore with Gulf took the family to Connecticut, Italy, Pennsylvania, Ireland, and finally Houston before Kathryn and Billy Earle retired to Kerrville in 1983. It was a very busy retirement for them, both locally and travelling. Kathryn remained active in Trinity Baptist Church and the Daughters of the American Revolution until ill-health curtailed her involvement in recent years. \r\n\r\nShe is survived by Dr. Robert Smith of Kerrville and Capt. Charles Smith of San Antonio. \r\n\r\nFuneral services will be held at Trinity Baptist Church at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 23, with Dr. Bill Blackburn officiating. \r\n\r\nWhile Kathryn loved flowers, those opting instead for memorial contributions may direct them to the Major James Kerr Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.\r\n