Moses Lee Smith

1929 - 2008

Smith

Longtime Fairbanksan Moses Lee Smith, 78, passed away on June 30, 2008, at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital surrounded by his family.
A funeral will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, July 5, at St. John Baptist Church, 802 17th Ave., with Pastor Lawrence Ellison officiating. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
A private burial will take place Monday at Northern Lights Memorial Park.
Moses was born Aug. 20, 1929, in Drew, Miss., to Ben and Earlene Smith. He was the fourth of seven children.
Hearing of job opportunities, Moses and two friends, William Grant and Emma Green, made their first trip to Alaska in 1953.
Deciding to make Alaska his home, he moved his wife, Evelyn, and daughters, Earlean and Verna, to Fairbanks in 1955. 
A cement contractor by trade, he ran a local cement finishing business for more than 40 years until poor health took him away from his passion. 
Moses is survived by his wife of 60 years, Evelyn Smith; daughters, Earlean Thornton and her husband, Glenn Smith, Verna Roberts and Sheryl Logan; grandchildren, YeVette Thornton, Johnnie Thornton II and his wife, Quiera, Kribari Thornton, Ta-Keshia Thornton, Giovanni “GiGi” Allen and her husband, George “Gee,” Ashley Roberts, Donald Logan Jr., Michael Smith and Ike Murphy III; great-grandchildren, Gerayl, Geron and Gabria Allen, Ja’Nyla, Jacques, Johnnae, Angelic, Alexis and Quiera Thornton; and his brothers, Lonell, John and Ben Smith; and sister, Ella Mae Jackson. 
Moses was preceded in death by his parents, Ben and Earlene Smith; twin sister, Josie Lee Smith-Shaw and sister, Dosie Jones; and son, Moses “Butch” Lee Smith Jr.
Arrangements were by Chapel of Chimes Funeral Home.