Obituary of Virginia Smith Hess

Mrs. Martha Virginia (Smith) Hess, wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, age 82, of Ozark, Alabama, passed away Wednesday, August 14, 2024, in Ozark Health and Rehabilitation Center where she had been living for the last five years. She left this world peacefully with her family members beside her for her last breath on this earth. Funeral services for Mrs. Hess will be 3:00 P.M. Monday, August 19, 2024, in the Chapel of Holman Funeral Home in Ozark with Reverend Dr. Jason Thrower and Chaplain Major Raymond Moncrief (United State Air Force, Retired) officiating. Interment will follow in Westview Memorial Cemetery, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. The family will receive friends at the funeral home in Ozark Sunday from 2:00 P.M. until 4:00 P. M. Pallbearers will be Charles B. Hess, Brandon T. Moncrief, Jean A. Latimer, Judson A. Blackmon, M. Stacy Grizzard, and Chaplain Major Raymond Moncrief (United State Air Force, Retired). Mrs. Hess was born in Birmingham, Alabama on January 23, 1942 to John Bernard Smith, Sr. and Sara Frances Kizziah Smith. She was raised in Coaling, Alabama with her two siblings, Bernadine and John Bernard, Jr. "JB". She was a 1959 graduate of Brookwood High School and held several positions as school leader over the years including Class Song Leader, Secretary-Treasurer Student Counsel, Vice President, President, Glee Club President, Beta Club, Honor Society, Assistant Editor of the “Pantheon”, Youth Leadership Representative, Pep Squad, Senior High "Who's Who" and Citizenship Girl. She went on to attend the University of Alabama where she graduated in 1963 with a degree in Social Work. She came to Ozark, Alabama to be the organist/secretary at Ozark Baptist Church where she met her future husband, Carl Leopold Hess. He was going through flight school at Ft. Rucker, Alabama and was attending Ozark Baptist at the time. They dated for one week and married at Coaling Baptist Church in Coaling, Alabama November 2, 1963. Together they had two children, Jennifer Lee Hess Blackmon of Ozark, Alabama and Charles Bernard Hess of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. While living the Army wife life, she was able to travel outside of the state of Alabama, to include being stationed in Ft. Benning, Georgia, Ft. Rucker, Alabama, Ft. Hood, Texas, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma, Omaha, Nebraska and Quarry Heights, Panama Canal Zone. She was the church secretary at most of the places her family resided and was very active with the military wives during those times. She enjoyed playing softball, tennis and swimming. Mrs. Hess enjoyed reading before she became too blind and then she enjoyed her husband reading to her. She was a Sunday School Teacher and Children's Director through the years along with going on Youth trips as a chaperone and a Mission trip to South Africa to teach VBS. She was able to visit several South American and Central American countries while being stationed in Panama and enjoyed entertaining the Missionaries traveling through on furlough back to the United States. When her husband retired from the Army in 1982 and she moved back to Ozark she obtained her real estate license and sold real estate for several years and later became her son's Office Manager for his law office in Ozark. She and Carl enjoyed spending time at the beach, traveling, and spending time with her grandchildren. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother, John Bernard "JB" Smith, Jr., and her brother-in-law, James A. Roberts. Survivors include her loving and faithful husband, Carl Leopold Hess; her daughter, Jennifer Hess Blackmon; and her son, Charles Bernard Hess. She is also survived by her sister, Bernadine Smith Roberts of Coaling, Alabama and her sister-in-law, Wanda Phillips Smith of Collinsville, Mississippi. She has three grandchildren, Emily Moncrief Latimer (Jean) of Palmetto, Florida, Brandon Tyler Moncrief (Anna) of Wicksburg, Alabama and Judson Andrew Blackmon of Ozark, Alabama. She has two great grandsons, Denver Alexander Latimer and Brandon "Adler" Moncrief. She is also survived by nieces and nephews as well as great nieces and nephews. In Lieu of flowers or plants, the family is asking that donations be made to the First United Methodist Church, 167 East Broad Street, Ozark, Alabama 36360. "Sadly missed along life's way, quietly remembered every day. No longer in our life to share, but in our hearts, you're always there." Author Unknown