Dr. Martha Gwendolyn (Cornelius) Smith, Ph.D. of Valley Head, AL, passed away the evening of January 14, 2021. Gwen was born on January 22, 1930 to the late Marion Leo (Bain) Cornelius and William Howard Cornelius of Guntersville, AL.
She attended Guntersville High school and graduated in 1948. She met her husband, Roy Carl Smith, at Jacksonville State. They were married in 1951 and have two children. She taught in Rising Fawn, Georgia. Then taught in Valley Head Schools for more than 20 years. She later taught Student Teachers at the University of Alabama, and there earned her Ph.D. in Early Childhood Education. She retired to the family’s farm in Valley Head, AL. She was a member of a teaching sorority and of MOAA (Military officers Association of America.)
Mrs. Smith is survived by her children Roy C. Smith, Jr. (Glenda Jones) and Patricia Leath (Glenn Leath); her grandchildren Dr. Roy C. Smith, III, DVM and Dr. Andrea Smith, Pharm.D. (Dr. Andrew Crowe, Pharm.D.); her great-grandchildren, Eleanor, Colette, and Annika Crowe; and one surviving brother Henry Bain Cornelius. Her husband, LTC(R) Roy Carl Smith, Sr., Ph.D., precedes her in death.
In lieu if flowers, the family requests memorial contributions be made to the Dr. Roy C. Smith, Sr. & Gwen C. Smith UA DeKalb Bama Club Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o National Alumni Association Endowed Scholarship Program, PO Box 861928, Tuscaloosa, AL 35486, attn: Deborah Parr (*make checks payable to Alumni Fund and denote Dr. Roy C. Smith, Sr. & Gwen C. Smith).
The family extends special thanks to Crowne Nursing Home for the love and care they gave to Gwen.
