RUTH SMITHSON

EAST PRAIRIE, Mo. -- Ruth V. Smithson, 77, of East Prairie died Saturday, Nov. 25, 2000, at the Missouri Delta Medical Center.

She was born Nov. 18, 1923, near Paris, Tenn., daughter of George W. and Laura Ann Caldwell Gargus. She and Billy Funston Smithson were married Sept. 13, 1941.

Smithson lived in Mississippi County the past 62 years. She owned and operated Smithson Tax and Accounting in East Prairie.

She was a member of the Rebekah Lodge 433 in Charleston, Mo., and the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sikeston, Mo.

Survivors include her husband; a son, Bill J. Smithson of Cupertino, Calif.; two brothers, James H. Gargus of Corinth, Miss., and George W. Gargus of Medford, Ore.; two sisters, Wanda Jenkins of Tucson, Ariz., and Aileen Zamarin of Sun City, Calif.; three grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, three sisters and three brothers.

Friends may call after 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Shelby Funeral Home in East Prairie.

Funeral will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the Shelby Chapel. Brother Steve Palmer will officiate, with burial in East Prairie Memorial Park Cemetery.