Hattie Little Smith

FOLEY Hattie was born December 11, 1930 in Belzoni, Mississippi. However, as a child, when asked, Hattie always said she was born under a Presbyterian piano bench! She really wasn’t but her Mother played the piano and taught Sunday school and she was there so much she just figured that’s where she came from. Hattie was raised as a sweet little magnolia blossom and went off to Belhaven College in Jackson MS. In college, she was editor of “The Belhaven Miss” newspaper. She studied art, and got married before she finished school. She lived the expected life as wife, mother to three children, civically active, and garden club type. Then she and her husband decided to go into a partnership in a speculative land development deal in Gulf Shores AL on Fort Morgan Road. The family moved to Surfside Shores in 1962. The project turned out to be 25 years too early for success. Their marriage ended in divorce and she was in the position of living 14 miles down Ft. Morgan Road with three young children and no means of support. This "garden club, tea party, young mom" had never held a wage earning job in her life. Hattie, however, was quite resourceful. She worked as a church secretary, a legal secretary and then later as secretary for the South Baldwin Chamber of Commerce in Foley. This later segued into her career for which she served for nearly three decades. Hattie and the community thrived under her leadership and many of the positive growth changes we see today were a result of her vision and hard work. She served offices in state and regional associations. She worked to establish communications between the business community and citizens and their elected officials. She received commendations from governmental leaders and business colleagues including Resolutions of both the Alabama Senate and the House of Representatives. She was a part of the prestigious “Leadership Alabama” program. She was named Gayfer’s Jubilee “1985 Outstanding Career Woman of Baldwin County” and was a recipient of Foley Rotary Club’s Community Service Award. The Foley Lions Club named her its Melvin Jones Fellow in 1995. Upon the occasion of the Chamber’s 50th anniversary in 1994, she was honored with the establishment of the Hattie Little Smith Free Enterprise Scholarship, to be awarded annually. In addition, she was involved with the establishment of the Baldwin Heritage Museum Association, the Alabama Humanities Foundation Board, Baldwin County Planning Commission, Industrial Developers Association of Alabama, the City of Foley Downtown Redevelopment Board, Faulkner State Jr. College President’s Advisory Council, and the Advisory Committee for the Governor’s Conference on Small Business. When she retired in 1997, she never looked back. Hattie had a love of collecting and studying seashells, the seashore and marine life and this involvement led to her work with the national designations of the Bon Secour Wildlife Refuge and the Weeks Bay National Estuarine Reserve. She became actively involved in the American Malacological Union and Conchologists of America as well. She used her extensive shell collection to educate others. One of her “shell programs” was presented at the invitation of the wife of the Commanding Officer of Naval Air Station Pensacola. Guests in the Admiral’s Quarters were wives of the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff. In 1972, Hattie wrote a column for the Mobile Press Register entitled “etc., by hattie!” She always signed her name “hattie!” Always. Lower case “h” and exclamation point. Hattie’s late husband was newspaperman Buddy Smith. After Buddy died she resurrected an old house on the Smith property which she named Camp Annie Bellum after the three women named Annie that had lived there. She became a part of the community there. She joined the Stockton Presbyterian Church and the Five Arts Club and loved eating and visiting at the Stagecoach cafe. Nobody could light up a room like Hattie Little Smith! Proceeded in death by her parents Joseph and Johnnie Davis Cerame, brother, Joe Cerame and husband Hector Embree (Buddy) Smith. She is survived by her three children: Barry Little (Beth) of Fairhope, AL. Lacie Little Maynard of Bon Secour, AL and Elizabeth Little Byrne of Huntsville, AL; her grandchildren Embree Dykema Deason, Aliana Little and Jessa Little and Kevin Welsh (Amanda) and Julie Welsh Dombrowski (Sage); and great grandchildren Davis and Kealy Deason and Braxton and Kennedy Welsh. There will be a visitation at First Presbyterian Church of Foley from 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. on Monday, July 27, 2015. A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church of Foley at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, 2015 followed by a private, family grave side service in the afternoon at Stockton Memorial Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Hattie Little Smith Scholarship Fund (South Baldwin Educational Foundation - P.O. Box 1117, Foley, AL 36536), The Weeks Bay National Estuarine Foundation (Weeks Bay Foundation 11401 US Highway 98 Fairhope, AL 36532) or Ecumenical Ministries Meals on Wheels Program (where she loved each and every volunteer who brightened her day. She said, “Foley is such a great place to live!”) - P.O. Box 1103 Fairhope, AL 36533. ARRANGEMENTS BY WOLFE-BAYVIEW FUNERAL HOMES & CREMATORY, INC. 1551 S. MCKENZIE STREET FOLEY, ALABAMA 36535 (251) 943-2391 www.wolfefuneralhomes.com