Aubrey Glenn Smith

Aubrey Glenn Smith, age 98, died peacefully at his home in Sheffield on July 25. 

Mr. Smith was born in Spring Valley, Alabama, where he lived most of his life. He was the oldest child of farming parents and lived his childhood through the Great Depression. He graduated from Colbert County High School in 1942 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy the following year, serving in WWII in the South Pacific. He chronicled his early life and years in the US Navy in his autobiography, Smitty, published in 2014.

He was discharged in the spring of 1946 and soon afterwards married Ruby Stanley, the Spring Valley girl who lived across the road. About the same time, he accepted a job with the Southern Railway as a telegraph operator, having learned Morse Code in the Navy. He worked many railroad jobs and locations from Memphis to Chattanooga and retired after 46 years. 

He loved sports of all kinds and loved his community.  He built a pond on his property for others to fish, built a baseball field for himself and others to play, built a tennis court where he beat most opponents, and opened his basement room for the kids to play table tennis.

Mr. Smith enjoyed his retirement and, with Ruby, traveled within the U.S. to many points, including a road trip to the Arctic Circle in Alaska. He was a Deacon of the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church, where he served as church treasurer for 47 years. He also served as a member of the Color Guard of American Legion Post 31 where he was the Taps player during his later years of service.

After 58 years of marriage to Ruby, who died in 2004, he sold his Spring Valley home and moved to Tuscumbia, Alabama. He married Alice Veal in 2007 and they resided in Muscle Shoals and Sheffield until her death in 2020.

He is survived by his son, Glenn Wayne (Reba) Smith; daughter, Carol Youkey; granddaughter, Tammy (Darrel) Deen, great-grandsons Tyler Bankston and Tanner Bankston (Cynthia Brown); sister, Mary Kathryn Smith Cauthen; brother, James Alfred Smith; step-sons Ricky (Teresa) Veal; Stan (Debbie) Veal; step-daughter Tamera (Garry) Peden; step-grandsons Dec (Leslie) Youkey; Steven (Kalana) Youkey; Jason (Becca) Veal; Steven Veal; Keith (Angela) Veal; Kory Veal (Dawn Watson); Clint (Sandi) Moreland; and step-granddaughters Kimberly Veal (Matt Corn); Amy Veal; Stafford (Kyle) Graves; several step-great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, as well as a host of loving friends and relatives.

He was preceded in death by his wife Ruby Stanley Smith; his wife Alice Veal Smith, parents, Floyd and Avery Smith; sisters Louise Smith Daily and Martha Lee Smith Hayes; son-in-law Bill Youkey; step-son Mark Veal, and step-grandson Eric Moreland.

Pallbearers will be Warren Daily, Grady Hayes, Terry Smith, Bill Newman, Keith Veal, and Clint Moreland. Honorary pallbearers include his friends at the Palace Drug Store Wednesday afternoon group, friends at the Bojangles Saturday morning group, Steve Cauthen, Joey Hayes, Keith Ballentine, Dick Grissom, Joe Rutland, David Branscomb, Robert Evans, Franklin Williams, Walter Bennett, Tyler Bankston, Tanner Bankston, Dec Youkey, and Terry Frederick.

Visitation will be on Saturday, July 30, 2022 from 1-3 p.m. at Colbert Memorial Chapel, followed by a funeral service, officiated by Reverend Gary Brittain.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Mt. Moriah Baptist Church Cemetery Fund, 6350 Colburn Mountain Road, Tuscumbia, AL 35674.

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