Obituary

Birth: Sep. 9, 1945
Death: May 13, 1999

Graveside services for Vernie Ray Smitherman, 53, of Lubbock will be at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Abernathy Cemetery with the Rev. Jesse Gilliam, pastor Wayne Avenue Baptist Church, officiating.

Burial will be in the Abernathy Cemetery under the direction of Abell Funeral Home.

Smitherman died Thursday, May 13, 1999, in Lubbock's University Manor Nursing Home.

He was born Sept. 9, 1945, in Lubbock. He was raised in Abernathy. He married Sue Bankston on Nov. 8, 1977, in Clovis, N.M. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1965 and was a Vietnam veteran. He was discharged from the military in 1974, and he moved to Lubbock. He was employed with Fleming Foods in Lubbock from 1980 until 1995. He was a Lutheran.

Survivors include his wife; a son, Daniel Ray of Lubbock; two stepdaughters, Malisa Long of Lubbock and Linda Adams of Petersburg; three brothers, Roy Lee of Idalou, Jim of Lubbock and Monty of Abernathy; a sister, Roxie Saroka of Wellborn; six grandchildren.

Inscription:
US Army

Burial:
Abernathy Cemetery
Abernathy
Hale County
Texas, USA
Plot: Section G