Carolyn Van Ness Smith

Carolyn Van Ness Smith, 87, died Wednesday afternoon, March 13, 2013, after a brief and unexpected illness. Born November 4, 1925, near Syracuse, New York, Carolyn moved to Petersburg, Virginia, where she attended Petersburg public schools. She graduated from Virginia Intermont High School, Bristol, Virginia, and the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. She volunteered and worked for 15 years at Nash General Hospital in Rocky Mount. Carolyn is survived by her husband, Ellis E. Smith of Rocky Mount, four sons, William Rosser Mann, and his wife, Phyllis Hicks, of Chapel Hill, James Grantham Mann, Mark Van Ness Mann, and his wife Jean, of Whitakers, and Peter Drake Mann, Little Rock, Arkansas, her one granddaughter, Marion Chesson Mann of Whitakers and her brother, Charles W. Van Ness of Little Rock, and his children, Carol Holiman and Lewis Van Ness. Great nephews and nieces include Charlie, Robert, and Susan Van Ness, and Stephanie Holiman. Services were held at 2 p.m., Friday, March 15, at the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rocky Mount. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made in her memory to Church of the Good Shepherd. Arrangements entrusted to Wheeler and Woodlief Funeral Home, 1130 N. Winstead Avenue, Rocky Mount NC 27804. You may share memories and condolences with the family by visiting www.wheelerwoodlief.com.