Clara Mae Smith Rushing, 81, went home to be with the Lord onAug. 27, 2008. She was a lifelong, faithful member of Church ofChrist.

Clara Mae was a long time resident of Sulphur, La., but was bornand reared in Brookhaven. She was a foster mother for more than 20years providing a loving home for more than 150 children in need,but her primary purpose in life was being a wife to her belovedhusband, Frank, and a mother to their four children.

Services for Mrs. Rushing were 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, atRiverwood Family Funeral Service Chapel with burial in New SalemChurch of Christ Cemetery in Brookhaven.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Frank B. Rushing andtheir son, Frank Marlon Rushing, both of Sulphur; her mother,Maggie Arnold Smith; her father, Jeff “Coot” Smith; her sisters,Winnie Calcote and Nellie Bedford; and her brother, Earl Smith, allof Lincoln County.

She is survived by her daughters, Paulette Field and husband,Walter, of Humble, Texas, Teresa Smith and husband, Roger, ofSulphur; her son, Jeff Rushing and wife, Melody, also of Sulphur;her sister, Pauline Berry, of Lincoln County; her ninegrandchildren; and her 11 great-grandchildren.