Evelyn Box Smith

Evelyn Box Smith October 20, 1925 March 19, 2014 Evelyn Dougherty Box Smith died on March 19, 2014, after bravely battling memory loss for more than a decade. Her children have scheduled a celebration of her life 1:30 p.m., Monday, March 24, at Oakwood Cemetery with the Reverend Don Cannata and the Reverend Charles Packard officiating. The family will receive friends 6:00 8:00 p.m., Sunday March 23, at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey, 6101 Bosque Blvd, Waco. Born October 20, 1925, in Grapevine, Texas, Evelyn enjoyed a happy, small-town childhood as the cherished, youngest child of three brothers and two sisters born to David Eckley Box and Ruth Dougherty Box. Evelyn graduated as Salutatorian of Grapevine High School in 1942 whereupon she attended Baylor University, graduating in May 1946 upon majoring in business and education. Having taken piano lessons from a Julliard graduate when she was attending high school, Evelyn continued training as a classical pianist at Baylor. Evelyn also served as the editor of the Baylor Round Up, Baylor University's yearbook, and was named to Who's Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. One spring night in 1946 as Evelyn was leaving her evening shift at the Baylor Library, a mutual friend introduced her to a recently decommissioned J.A.G. Army officer, Walstein Smith, Jr., of McGregor, Texas, who had just returned home from the European Theater and was helping to reorganize the Baylor Law School Library since it had closed during World War II. For the next 52 years, they were each other's best friend until his death in February 1998. During Evelyn's married life, she was first of all a wife and mother. However, she also worked as a legal secretary, a La Vega I.S.D. teacher of both sixth-graders and high school-level typing and shorthand students, an instructor of adult G.E.D. students at McLennan Community College, and a bookkeeper for her husband's businesses while additionally volunteering for many causes. A devout Christian witness, Evelyn spent most of her married life serving as a Sunday School teacher/director, first teaching elementary-school level children's classes before moving on first to a position as the coordinator of all children's activities and later becoming the director of all adult Sunday School classes at the First Baptist Church of Waco. Then from 1986 to 2000, she acted as a co-secretary for First Baptist's Sunday School. Additionally, as a wife of a Baylor University faculty member and a local attorney, Evelyn was an active member of Baylor Round Table, an organization for the University's wives and female faculty members, the Hankamer Business Wives Club, and as a charter member of the McLennan County Bar Auxiliary, eventually serving as president of these organizations. She also served as a trustee for Hillcrest Baptist Hospital and made many lifelong friendships in the Current Event Club and the Trowel and Spade Garden Club. Evelyn's parents, as well as three brothers, David, Joe, and Donald Box, and a sister, Mary Ruth Box Jones, preceded her in death. Evelyn is survived by a daughter, Elaine Smith, of Waco; a son, Bennett Smith and his wife, Lisa Williams Smith, of Georgetown, Texas; and four grandchildren, Kelly Smith of Long Beach, California, Cathie Smith of Austin, Daniel Smith, of College Station, and Peter Smith of Georgetown; as well as numerous nieces and nephews; and two sisters-in-law, both of Dallas. The family wishes to thank the staff of Wesley Woods Nursing Home, Visiting Angels, Linda Davis, Ann Johnson, and Effie Dawson, and Providence Hospice, especially Cindy Frasier, for their attentive care during Evelyn's final years. The family also requests that memorials be made to the Walstein Smith Real Estate Scholarship for the Baylor School of Business or the charity that reflects Evelyn's interest in music. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our "Memorial Guestbook" at www.WHBfamily.com.