Carmen Lee Smith

Carmen Lee Smith was born on June 7, 1945, to Beryl and Jackie Anderson Cochran in Jal, New Mexico. She married the love of her life, Jack Smith, on June 2, 1962, in Cross Plains, Texas. They settled in Ballinger, Texas where they made their home for 58 years before Jack passed away in October of 2020.

Carmen worked for many years at Electrospace in Ballinger, Texas where she made many lifelong friends. She then worked at Strube Packing and later at San Angelo Municipal Court where she retired.

Carmen was a force to be reckoned with, and you never had to wonder what she was thinking, because if you waited long enough, she would tell you. Her whit and her dry sense of humor made any visit with Carmen a memorable one.

She loved Jack from the day she met him. Her love for Andy and Stephanie was unconditional. And she loved her grandkids and great grandkids with all she was. Her family was the center of her world. She loved her Anderson family and times with them were some of her most cherished memories.

Carmen is survived by her son Andy Smith, and daughter Stephanie Hite and husband Doug, her grandchildren Jaci and Maynard Scott, Paige and Andrew Chamberlain, Tanner and Rachel Hite, Kaci and Eric Gully and Jessica and Guy VanPelt, and eleven great grandchildren. She is also survived by her sister in laws, Darlene Smith, Joyce Cochran, and Rhonda Cochran as well as her special uncle Jim Anderson and cousin Joyce Stevens and a host of family and friends.

Carmen is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Jack Smith, and brothers Phillip and Sam Cochran.

Pallbearers will be Tanner Hite, Guy VanPelt, Eric Gully, Maynard Scott, Rodney Smith, and Jeffrey Smith.

The family would like to thank Hospice of Ballinger and Ballinger Healthcare and Rehab for their loving care and support.