A celebration of life will be held for Iris Olivia Barksdale Smith 11 a.m., Saturday, March 29, at Riverwood Family with burial in Philadelphia Baptist Church Cemetery. Visitation is from 10 a.m. until the time of the service.
Mrs. Smith, 97, of Baton Rouge, LA, passed away March 14, 2025, at Our Lady of the Lake Medical Center in Baton Rouge, due to complications of pneumonia. She was just a few months shy of 98 years of age. She was born June 30, 1927, to Henry Decatur Barksdale and Bertha Mae McKinney Barksdale.
Mrs. Smith, known as “Meme” to her grandchildren, was a woman of integrity and faith. She leaves a legacy of hard work, tender loving care, and strength. She was church pianist for 40 years and an avid reader, most importantly reading her Bible through every year for the last 40 years. She was a prayer warrior and a faithful servant of God. Meme taught her family to love the Lord Jesus first and to love others above all things. Our whole family is thankful to have so many warm and joyful memories to keep close to our hearts. What we will remember most was that this strong, capable absolute legend of a woman was wrapped up in the kindest, gentlest heart. The family rejoices that she has met Jesus face to face but feels the world is a little colder without her presence.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Robert Lee Smith; great great grandson, Isaac Lewis Gill; three brothers and five sisters.
Those left to cherish her memory are her children, Linda Smith Gill (Jack), Barbara Diane Thiery (Jared), and Bobbie Smith Reed (Glen); nine grandchildren, 23 great grands, and 10 great great grands. She is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews as well as other loving family members.
