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Shirley Smith '76 May 11, 2017 9:34 AM updated: May 16, 2017 4:14 PM

Hillier Funeral Home of College Station obituary
4080 State Hwy 6
College Station, TX 77845
979-985-2060

Shirley and Jeff Smith
October 26, 1953 ~ May 2, 2017 (age 63)

What a wonderful thing, to love so much and so deeply, that even death cannot separate you from your love. Jeff and Shirley Smith of Bryan passed away together on May 2, 2017, in a car accident.
Jeffery Allen Smith was born February 17, 1961, in Springfield, IL to Harry and Elizabeth (Lynn) Smith. As a kid, he often joked that he was switched at birth and was really a Rockefeller. He was an avid Star Wars and Star Trek fan and lover of video games. He graduated from Sangamon State University with a Bachelors of Science degree to be a medical technician. Since his father passed away, he was the one to walk all three of his sisters down the aisle for their weddings. He was preceded in death by his father Harry Smith and brother Michael Smith. He is survived by his sister Melissa Wheat, sister and brother in law Cindy & Gary Snyder and sister and brother in law Samantha Smith & Glenn Smith.
Shirley Kay Smith was born October 26, 1953, in Conroe to Henry “Douglas” and Viva Maxine Scoggins Stover. As she loved science, she attended Texas A & M University, receiving a Bachelors of Science in Microbiology. She then went to the University of Texas to get a second Bachelors of Science degree in Medical Technology. She loved going antiquing in Canton, reading, watching movies, plays at Opas, and video games. She is survived by brother and sister-in-law Stanley Douglas and Beckie Suzanne (Bean) Stover, niece and husband Robin Marie Stover Griffin and Sven Troy Griffin, nephew and wife Mark Randal and Courtney Kathleen (Furth) Stover, nephew and wife Rick Douglas Stover and Lindsey Marie Flanary, and many great nephews and nieces.
Jeff and Shirley’s love of science and passion for their work is what drew them together. They met while working together in a lab in Huntsville and married soon after. At the time of their death, Jeff and Shirley worked at CHI St. Joseph’s in Bryan. Both were known for their sense of humor, although Jeff’s tended to be a bit drier. Jeff and Shirley were involved n the American Society of Clinical Pathology. They both counted their wedding day as the happiest in their lives, so it is fitting they were joined together even in death. Their visitation is Thursday, May 18, 2017, 5-7 PM, and their Life Celebration is Friday May 19, 2017, at 3 PM with a reception following in the Heritage Room at Hillier Funeral Home in College Station. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the Aggieland Humane Society at www.aggielandhumane.org.
Please share any memories or tributes to Jeff and Shirley at www.hillierfuneralhome.com.


SERVICES

CELEBRATION GATHERING
Thursday
May 18, 2017
5:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Hillier Funeral Home - College Station
College Station, TX

LIFE CELEBRATION
Friday
May 19, 2017
3:00 PM
Hillier Funeral Home - College Station
College Station, TX

RECEPTION
Friday
May 19, 2017
4:00 PM
Hillier Funeral Home - College Station
College Station, TX
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(Published in) The (Bryan-College Station) Eagle (on) May 5, 2017

Bryan couple remembered as fun-loving, caring
by Rebecca Fiedler rebecca.fiedler@theeagle.com May 5, 2017

A Bryan couple remembered by friends and family as jokesters who loved video games and rock music were killed Tuesday in Temple when their car collided with a dump truck on Texas 95.

Jeffrey Smith, 56, and his wife, Shirley, 61, were in Temple for a doctor's appointment. The two worked as medical technologists -- Jeffrey at CHI St. Joseph for 17 years and Shirley rotating between CHI St. Joseph and the College Station Medical Center for 16 years. Though they technically worked in different labs, the husband and wife had similarly important jobs.

"Shirley, as a microbiologist, would determine what type of bacteria was found in a patient's samples, report that to the doctors and tell the doctors how to treat it," explained Kim Dubose, Shirley's supervisor at CHI St. Joseph. Dubose said with a specialty in hematology, Jeffrey would also look at a range of biological samples, but much of his work specifically involved blood. He would diagnose diseases such as leukemia, based on his observations. Both Smiths worked tirelessly to ensure the betterment of patients at the hospital, Dubose said, doing critical behind-the-scenes work to assist doctors and nurses. Both were good mentors to other staffers, taking new hires under their wing and acting as cheerleaders.

"They were both jokesters," Dubose said. "They had a lot of laughter. They were loud, but not in a bad way; bristly on the outside but soft, huge hearts on the inside."

The couple met in the late 1980s when they were working at a hospital in Huntsville. Jeffrey, a medical technologist specializing in hematology, had graduated from a small college in Illinois, while Shirley received a microbiology degree from Texas A&M in 1976 and a medical technology degree from the University of Texas in 1987. They wed in 1993 and moved from Huntsville to the Bryan-College Station area almost 20 years ago.

The Smiths never had children, but devoted their time to other passions. Stan Stover of Glen Rose, who is Shirley Smith's big brother, said his sister loved animals, even as a child, taking care of horses, guinea pigs, ducks and geese.

The couple had two cats, Scorch and Blitz, and bonded over a shared love of video games, rock music, comedians and trips to the movie theater. Shirley obsessed over the television series The Walking Dead, and both were avid fans of the show Game of Thrones.

More than they loved their work in the medical field, their animals and their silly attitudes, the Smiths loved each other.

"They were so close, and matched so well," Stover said of his sister and brother-in-law.

Dubose said hospital staff haven't adjusted to a workplace without the Smiths, sometimes expecting them to be around the corner, ready to analyze a sample. Though it's hard to lose two technologists at once, there is one silver lining to the circumstances:

"One couldn't live without the other," Dubose said. "It is a comfort to know that they're together."

The Smiths had been in Temple this week to see a specialist for glaucoma, which Shirley had recently been diagnosed with.

The crash remains under investigation. The Smiths' car was going east on US 36, and the dump truck was headed south on Texas 95, according to KXXV-TV. The truck's driver had minor injuries, according to the Temple Daily Telegram.

Services are pending with Hillier Funeral Home and are tentatively scheduled for May 19.


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