The funeral Service for Rudy Jewell Smith is 2 pm, Saturday Dec. 12, 2020, at Brookhaven Funeral Home, Natchez Ave. This service will be live-streamed on Brookhaven Funeral Home’s Facebook page. Visitation is from 12:30 to 2:00, followed with burial at 3:30 in Heucks Retreat Cemetery. Please wear a mask and observe social distancing.

Rudy passed peacefully from this life to be with Jesus on Sat. Dec. 5. He was born in Brookhaven on July 15, 1943, to Robert Eugene Smith and Annie Mae Smith.

Having accepted Jesus as his Lord at a young age, Rudy spent his life of 77 years dedicated to his Lord, to his family, and to farming the land. As a young adult Rudy worked with the boys at Heucks Retreat Church in Royal Ambassadors and coached the church softball team. At First Baptist Church, he was a faithful member of the Fellowship Sunday School Class. He enjoyed singing with friends in Joy Choir, the Worship Choir and in the Lincoln Chorale. Rudy made monthly visits with Christian friends to nursing homes to sing hymns and have devotions.

Rudy loved to be outdoors cultivating ground and tending livestock. A man of few words, he said more than once “I feel closer to the Lord when on the seat of a tractor, praying and singing as I work.” Because he was concerned with taking care of the land and natural resources, Rudy had a personal involvement with important agricultural issues through local organizations such as Lincoln Co. Farm Bureau, Soil Conservation Service and the Forestry Association.

Rudy was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Edward and his son Matthew.

He is survived by his wife of 53 yrs., Linda Newell Smith; his son, Andrew Jewell Smith (Sharon); his grandchildren, Nathaniel and Chloe Seal; his brothers, Rev. Bobby Smith (Nina) and Hamp Smith (Sherra); his sister, Patsy Atherton (Perry), and a host of nieces and nephews. He is also survived by Amy Stanley, who he cherished like a daughter, and Ron Swindall, who he cherished like a son. 

Because Rudy wanted the Word of God to be spread everywhere to bring people to Jesus, he participated in Gideon’s International with the Brookhaven Camp. In lieu of flowers, he would ask that Bibles be given through Gideon’s International, P.O. Box 1106, Brookhaven, MS 39602.