Iris Harvey Smith
September 24, 1932 – August 12, 2020
Iris Harvey Smith died at her residence on August 12, 2020. She was born in 1932 in Nashville, Georgia to Ellie Peeples Harvey and Joseph Hillman Harvey. Iris was an honor graduate of Nashville High School and, as an accomplished pianist, represented the school in competitive meets. She attended Wesleyan College and was a graduate of Stetson University.
In 1954 Iris accepted her first job as an English teacher at Cairo High School. It was at this school that she met a young agricultural teacher, Linwood Agnew Smith. He became the love of her life. Agnew showed her all the pleasure, laughter and informalities of life she had not experienced in her formal upbringing. Following a brief courtship the couple married in 1955 and to this union three children were born; Agnew Jr., Hill, and Elise. Iris left her teaching job to raise their children. She became an original Cairo to Brookwood carpooling mother long before the school had a bus. Multiple daily trips to Thomasville allowed her quality time with her children and their friends. While she still relished the formal holiday meals with her family, she soon learned to anticipate cooking all the game that Aggie and Hill brought in from the farm.
Following Agnew’s death in 1977 and after successfully launching their children, Iris embarked on her second career. She began working in the family grocery business that had been initially begun by her paternal grandmother. She worked first with her father, Joe Harvey, Sr, and later with her brother, Joe Harvey Jr. She served on the corporate board and held a company office for many years. Iris made many contributions in the progress of the company; however, her favorite job was authoring Iris’s Recipe Corner in the weekly Harvey’s Supermarket ads. All recipes were first served to the Smith children. “Thumbs up” at the table meant another recipe for the Recipe Corner; “thumbs down”….well, some recipes were just not Recipe Corner worthy. Iris, of course, had the final say on the approval or on the veto for all recipes. In 2006 her cooking efforts culminated in a published cookbook, Harvey’s best from the Recipe Corner. The cookbook was widely popular and it became necessary to have a second publishing. Recipe Corner meals have graced the tables of Georgia families for many years and will continue to do so for decades to come. She truly enjoyed sharing her cooking efforts with others.
To family members she was known as “Sister”, to friends and acquaintances she was “Iris or Miss Iris”, and she was “Honey” to her grandchildren, Hillman and MaryBlake. Iris was the fourth generation member who lived together in one residence in her early years. She learned early the value of family and brought that love to her children. As family members before her, she loved cooking. She also enjoyed yard work, flowers, traveling with Ann Carol and Maggie, and she delighted in a table of bridge. She was a member of the First Baptist Church and chaired many committees. She was truly a lady of elegance and grace. She left a significant legacy to her family and to all who knew her. She had a strong sense of integrity and contributed time and resources to worthy causes. She had high standards in every aspect of her life. She exemplified her spirituality by the way she lived.
Iris was preceded in death by her parents, Joseph Hillman Harvey and Ellie Peeples Harvey, her brother, Joseph H. Harvey, Jr., her husband, Linwood Agnew Smith, and her daughter, Elise Smith Canipe. She is survived by her sons, Linwood Agnew (Aggie) Smith, Jr., and James Hillman (Hill) Smith, son-in-law Jeffrey T. Canipe, her grandchildren, James Hillman Smith, Jr. and MaryBlake Harvey Smith, her life-long friend and cousin, Ann Carol Daniel and her friend and caregiver, Beth Kines.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the family will hold a private ceremony celebrating her life on Saturday, August 15, 2020 at First Baptist Church of Cairo with Reverend Chris Allen and Reverend Ron McCaskill officiating. Private interment will be in Greenwood Cemetery, Cairo, Georgia.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to: First Baptist Church of Cairo, P. O. Box 1538, Cairo, GA 39828; Christ Church Cairo, P. O. Box 120, Cairo, GA 39828; or the American Cancer Society, 2619 Centennial Blvd, Unit 101, Tallahassee, FL 32308.
The family wishes special thanks to Dr. Mark Brewer, who helped Iris to 87 and half years of great health.
