Ann Smith

Burlington - Ann Melvin Smith, age 85, went home to be with the Lord on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Ann was a member of First Baptist Church in Burlington and had been an active member of 4 other congregations in the Triad area. Ann worked throughout her adult life with Baptist Missions and Home Missions. As a strong advocate for women's ordination she served as First Vice President of the Baptist State Convention and President of the North Carolina WMU Women's Missionary Union. "To serve the Lord to the best of my abilities and to glorify His name" and "To be Christ's hands and feet on earth" exemplified her stated aims and goals, synonymous with her missionary heart. Her mission trips internationally included Ecuador, Barbados, Costa Rica, Togo, Poland, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Albania, Germany, Cuba, Hungary, Morocco, Jordan and others. In the states she worked in disaster relief at the 9-11 Pentagon crash and in Gulf Port, MS after Katrina. The weekend prior to her passing was spent at a missionary meeting in Winston Salem with the WMU. Another example of one of her aims in life: "Motivate others to give, grow and go." She is survived by her sons, Bruce Michael Smith and wife, Susan of Chapel Hill and The Reverend Stephen Melvin Smith of Greensboro; granddaughters, Jessica Lauren Smith Tyceson Mills of Mebane and Alexandra Nicole Smith of Charlotte. She was preceded in death by her husband, Sanford Hale Smith, daughter, Betty Kay Smith and parents, Carley Love Melvin and Edith Johnson Melvin and a sister, Martha Aleen Jones. The family will receive friends from 6:30pm until 9:00pm on Wednesday, May 6, 2015 at Lowe Funeral Home and Crematory. A service to celebrate her life will be held on Thursday, May 7, 2015 at 2:00pm at First Baptist Church of Burlington by Dr. Terry Peele and a graveside service will be held at 4:00pm at Westminster Gardens in Greensboro. Memorials may be made to The Woman's Missionary Union of North Carolina, earmarked General Fund or Camp Mundo Vista 1200 Front St. 110 Raleigh, N.C. 27609 or, www.wmunc.org/