Anita Smith Knox, age 91, died Sunday April 10, 2016, due to injuries incurred in a fall. She is preceded in death by husbands Kenneth D. Smith and Wendell P. Knox, her parents Friedrich and Lillian Doell Dreier, and granddaughter Laura Lee Smith. She is survived by her sons Wendel Smith of Lawrenceburg, Thomas E. Smith of Pulaski, and J. Randall Smith of Tullahoma, as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Born in 1924, she was proud of growing up in the predominantly German community of Meyersville, Texas, where she lived on a ranch and rode her horse to school. During World War II she married Kenneth D. Smith and after the war moved with him to Tennessee where they spent many years in the Donelson area. Despite the demands of building their family business she was very active in civic affairs, especially the Lions Club, and the school and sports activities of her growing family. In 1986 she married Wendell Knox and moved to Lebanon, Tennessee. She was a member of First Presbyterian Church and was especially active in Friends of Cumberland University, a member of the Cumberland Fine Arts Council, and chair of the 1992 Phoenix Ball. One of her favorite projects was providing a meal for the symphony when they performed each summer on the grounds of Cumberland. A hallmark of her life was the zest she brought to her wide-ranging interests, among them fashion and sewing, growing and arranging flowers, rooting for Vanderbilt and her Dallas Cowboys, watching golf (especially Phil Mickelson). A wonderful cook, she was never happier than when she was entertaining, for a few or a crowd, planned or at the drop of a hat. She so enjoyed the faithful companionship of dogs. If she didn’t have one, a neighbor’s would do, and they all loved her right back.
Private graveside service at Shady Grove Cemetery in Morrison, TN. In lieu of flowers memorial donations could be made to Shady Grove Cemetery Association or the pet rescue/no-kill animal shelter of your choice.
COFFEE COUNTY FUNERAL CHAPEL IN CHARGE OF ARRANGEMENTS