Obituary of Laverne Smith

Mr. Charles Laverne Smith, 76, of Ozark, died Wednesday, January 8, 2020, in Dale Medical Center following a long and courageous battle with leukemia. Funeral services for Mr. Smith will be held 11:30 A.M. Saturday, January 11, 2020, in the Chapel of Holman Funeral Home and Cremations in Ozark with Reverend John Gunter officiating. Interment will follow in Westview Memorial Cemetery, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. The family will receive friends Saturday at the funeral home in Ozark from 10:30 A.M. until service time. Mr. Smith was born October 4, 1943 in Dale County, Alabama to the late Ernest Foy Smith and Hazel Dean Matthews Smith. He was a 1963 graduate of Carroll High School in Ozark and served in the Alabama National Guard for six years. Laverne worked as an aircraft mechanic with various maintenance contractors at Fort Rucker for 43 years until his retirement. He was an avid Auburn sports fan, especially Auburn football. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by twin sons, Ronald Smith and Donald Smith; his mother-in-law and father-in-law, Hubert and Melba Gunter; and one sister-in-law, Rita Hamm. Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Gayle Gunter Smith of Ozark; one daughter, Kristi Smith of Ozark; one son and daughter-in-law, Brian and Melissa Smith of Ozark; one grandson to arrive in March; three sisters and two brothers-in-law, Barbara and Dan Deloney of Dothan, Jane and Dennis Leatherwood of Montgomery, Carole McAllister of Echo; three brothers-in-law, Roger Gunter of Ozark, Marty Gunter of Ozark, Jeff Gunter and his wife, Claudia of Opelika, and Charles “Chuck” Hamm of Headland. Numerous nieces and nephews also survive. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Westview Memorial Cemetery Association, P. O. Box 484, Ozark, Alabama 36361.