Mrs. Nellie Christine Hogue Smith passed away 04/06/2020 in Durham, NC. There will be a private graveside service on Saturday, April 11, 2020 at Bluestone Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery at 11:00 a.m.

Public viewing will be 1:00 pm-5:00 pm Friday, April 10, 2020 at McLaurin Funeral Home.  Please remember to practice safe distancing, with mask, gloves and sanitizing.

Nellie was born February 6, 1931 in Pelham, North Carolina to the late Whitfield and Alice Hogue. She graduated from Caswell County Training School and worked for Dan River Mill as a doffer for many years. She also worked diligently beside her husband on their farm raising livestock and growing tobacco. She loved music, dancing, sewing and was an avid quilter.

She was baptized at an early age and served faithfully for many years at Smith Chapel Baptist Church with her family. Her service to the Lord would also include playing the piano and organ for multiple area churches including Gwynn's Chapel Missionary Baptist Church and St. Paul United Methodist Church, where she also served as Sunday School Superintendent and on the Missionary Society. She later jointed Bluestone Missionary Baptist Church, where she served as a Deaconess.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 62 years, Jim Henry Smith as well as three sisters - Evelyn Wilson, Ossie Wilson, and Oral Whatley and five brothers - John Neil Hogue, Whitfield Hogue, Walter Hogue, Sam Hogue, and Clarence Hogue.

Those left to cherish her memory include: her two children, Sandra Hairston of Durham, NC and William Smith of Long Beach, CA; three granddaughters, Lateefah Smith of Long Beach, CA, Tiffany Hairston of Durham, NC, and Alicia Hairston of Durham, NC; and a host of other relatives and friends.

McLaurin Funeral Home is serving the family.