Mrs. Flora Smith

December 31, 1950 - March 24, 2016

Heavenly peace came to our dear Flora Patricia Smith on Thursday, March 24, 2016 at Novant Health Rowan Regional Hospital in Salisbury, North Carolina. She was born on December 31, 1950 in Concord, North Carolina. Flora was born to the late Mary Stewart of Chester County, South Carolina and William Martin Smith of Cabarrus County, North Carolina. She graduated from Concord High School and, at the age of 18 moved to New York City where she married Anthony Frederick and raised her family. Flora grew in her Christian faith at the John Wesley United Methodist Church in Brooklyn, New York. Upon moving back to North Carolina in 2002 she completed the Certificate Program at Hood Theological Seminary, Salisbury, NC. She was an active member at Price Memorial AME Zion Church in Concord where served as Local Preacher and sang in the choir. Years later she would became an active member of Soldiers Memorial AME Zion Church in Salisbury. Sister Flora served as Local Preacher, member of the Missionary Society, Lay Council and supported the district and local church Evangelism Programs until her health began to decline. Flora was a follower of Jesus Christ and a woman after God's own heart. In her lifetime she overcame addiction and persevered through overwhelming health challenges with the help of her Heavenly Father. Her infectious joy was powerful - she encouraged everyone who had the privilege of meeting her. No one was a stranger to Flora. Her zeal for life and her ability to praise God in all circumstances has been an inspiration to her family, friends and the nurses and doctors who have cared for her over the years. Flora was preceded in death by her daughter Brandy Nicole, her husband Anthony Frederick, her sisters Willie Maxine and Petunia Lee, her brother William Martin, Jr. and by her nephews Justin Smith and Juan Smith-Salado. Precious memories of her are cherished in the hearts of her twin children: Genevieve Aurora Anastasia Smith and William Robie Gino Smith, her siblings Peggy Smith-Morris, Mary Smith, Alice Gene Smith and Luke Andrew Smith. Nieces & Nephews: Melissa, Michelle, Wanika, Shantai, Courtney, Nykei, Toni, Fatimah, Akeyaa, Daynelle, Sheree and Alex Smith. She is also remembered by a host of other great nieces and nephews, cousins, friends, & family. Homegoing Celebration will be held, Thursday, March 31, 2016, with visitation at 1PM, follow by funeral service at 1:30PM, Soldiers Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church, 306 N. Church Street, Salisbury, North Carolina. Boone-Carroll Funeral Home of Cleveland is assisting the Smith family. Read Smith Story written by Salisbury Post, Published, Thursday, December 22, 2011 (modified) Salisbury-Flora Smith, a self described local preacher, will talk about the Lord wherever she finds an audience. It could be among a group of veterans at the logical VFH. It could be the people who ride with her on the “RITA” buses. She might stop in at the Brian Center to spread the word. The folks who see her every other day during her dialysis know the evangelical nature of “Sister Smith” She always has spoken with people she met in the hospital about her “good God.” for that’s what He is, she says. “Mrs. Smith is a very lovable person and is always positive and praising God for what He does in her life and others,” says Corine Parks, a fellow member at Soldiers Memorial AME Zion. Have hope and belief and faith in God, “and He won't let you down.” The 60 year-old Smith adds. She says it’s not God’s fault she faces serious health challenges. Diabetes something she has fought for years. She said, “I didn’t listen, and time after time He (God) would help me until the day came it had to come off,” Smith says. “It’s Him who’s keeping me here today. “ Smith can walk a little bit with the help of her prosthetic leg and a walker, but she mainly depends on a motorized wheelchair. She has ridden her wheelchair on sidewalks – and sometimes the street – from her Milford Hills Home to Soldiers Memorial AME Zion Church on Sunday. It’s a couple of miles, she said. On, Saturdays, when the county’s RITA buses aren’t running, she depends on the wheelchair to get her to DaVita Dialysis, just down Statesville Boulevard (on Dorsett Drive) from her house, but she has to go early when it’s still dark so she carries a flashlight. Sometimes she must steer the wheelchair onto the road because the sidewalk next to the new Hospice House construction site is a little rough. They told me I’m not supposed to do that, but dialysis is my lifeline, “Smith protests. Her dialysis lasts about four-and-half hours every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, sapping her strength, but not her spirit. Her oldest daughter, Brandi, and son William provides and helps her when they can. What she really needs, Smith says, is some kind of ramp She had been traveling to Rowan Cabarrus Community College in efforts to gain a degree in Early Childhood Development, but that is on the shelf these days, as well as Friday mornings when she use to help out at the Partners in Learning Childhood Development Center at Catawba College. When Smith can’t attend church, she makes time to pray with the nurses who visits her home daily. Sometimes she would scoot across the street to Milford Hills Baptist Church where Smith has prayed with the pastor on occasions. I rely on the Lord a lot,” Smith says, “I pray and talk to Him. I hear his voice a lot. A feeling you get when he answers you, if I don’t get that feeling, I don’t try.” When she talks with scared and lonely people in the hospitals, Smith tell them not to be fearful, just to trust in God. “It’s good to encourage someone,” she says “when you can’t walk, he’ll walk for you.” A Concord native, Smith left North Carolina in her late teens to live with a sister in New York. She spent almost 30 years in New York. She has three children-Brandy, and twins William and Genevieve. Her occupations included, club manager, secretary to a Home for Wayward Boys, correctional officer, security guard and microfilms for the Department of Motor Vehicle. She also attended Midtown Manhattan Business. Smith returned to her native state, settling in Salisbury, so she could be near her ailing father. A man who served in every capacity at the family’s home church of Price Memorial AME Zion. “I raised my children in the church,” she emphasizes. Her father has since died, and she also has lost her mother and two sisters. Smith says she has faced a world of hurt, but she always finds a bright side. “Says, “Hi, Henry,” she says to her little goldfish, swimming in a big bowl next to her television. As with Sister Smith, Henry has never met a stranger.