Mrs. Mary Ann (Smiling) Edwards

Mary Ann (Smiling) Edwards departed this life on Tuesday, August 27, 2024 at Prisma Richland Memorial Hospital after being lovingly cared for by her children. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).  She was born in Sumter, South Carolina on November 21,1948 to the late Thomas Alston and Mary Jane Smith.

She attended the public schools of Sumter County before moving to Washington, DC. She was married to the late George Lee Smiling. After moving to Boston, Massachusetts, she met and married Oddie B. Edwards. They lived there for many years before moving their residency to Sumter, SC to help care for her mother. When her husband, Oddie passed away in 2017, Columbia, SC became her home.

While she worked various jobs, the job she enjoyed most was as a Librarian Assistant in Boston. She loved exploring and gathering trinkets that reflected memories of the past.  When she lived in Sumter, she also worked at the Gold Kist Plant for several years before moving to Columbia.

She accepted Christ as her Savior later in life and she and her husband made the decision to follow the Lord in Believer’s baptism at Cherryvale Baptist Church in Sumter, SC.  Occasionally when she was physically able, she attended Foundation Baptist Church. Be it known though, she was ministered to by her caregiver, her youngest daughter, Alicia, through the reading of scriptures and the discussion of the Bible every Sunday when possible.

She was preceded in death by her husbands, her parents, three sisters, Betty Jean Smith Bethel, Edith Smith Lawrence, and Marie Smith Beale; three brothers, Abe Smith, Jr., Otis Smith, Joseph Ramsey; and a step-son, Jay Edwards. 

She leaves to cherish her precious memories: her daughters, Brenda Bethel (Chris), and Alicia Edwards; her son, George T. Smiling (Barbara) all of Columbia; step-daughters: Oddetta, April, Antoinette, Janeka, Latonya, Lauren, Tracy; step-sons: Michael, Ronnie, Ernest, Neil; her sisters, Mary Louise Archie and Virginia Nathaniel, both of Sumter, SC, Janie Lee Cook of Long Island City, NY, and Carolyn Alston (Michael) of Dalzell, SC; a brother-in-law, James Beale (Jelain) of Simpsonville, SC; and a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives and dear friends.

She loved all and had a giving heart, welcoming family and friends into her home whenever they asked, giving time, and whatever she could.  Remembered most will be those “Thanksgiving Dinners” which included the sweet potato turnovers.  Precious memories, how they linger.  She will truly be missed.

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