Former veteran employee of the Auburn Cooperative Extension System, community and church leader Annie Mae Smith died July 4 at her home in Clayton.

She began her career with the Extension System in Barbour County before her degree was conferred at Sparks Community College. She worked there for a number of years before she was recruited to work at the Extension Office on the campus of Auburn University. She then left the university and worked for a few years at Southland Bank before returning to ACES once again. She worked on campus a number of years before returning to the county office where she worked for several years before retiring in July 2011. She retired with a total of 36 years of service to Auburn University.

She also served on the Town of Clayton’s Zoning Board for a number of years and volunteered on the town’s annual Christmas Parade Committee for years. She also served as a member of Clayton’s Housing Authority Board where she remained active until her health began to fail.

While a student at Alabama State University, Annie Mae was involved in the Civil Rights Movements. She was arrested and refused to leave the jail unless or until her mother had enough money to bail out her roommate, Johnnie Dean Ridgeway, as well. Her mother did not, so Annie Mae remained in jail until the Student Government Association negotiated the release of all the students. Annie Mae continued this work in the area of voting rights by assisting elderly and disabled citizens with absentee ballots and by working as a poll worker until her health began to fail.

She was a member of Jones Chapel AME Church where she served as a member of the Trustee Board, the Usher Board, Van Ministry, a lead singer in the Gospel Choir, president of the local Lay Organization, Secretary of the local Women’s Missionary Society and 2nd Vice President of the Dothan-Eufaula Area WMA. She was elected to serve as a 2008 delegate to the General Conference of the AME Church. The fourth child born to T.C. Smith and Wonnie Mae McBride Smith on November 2, 1950 in Louisville, a Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, July 20 at 11 a.m. at Jones Chapel AME Church in Clayton. Interment will be held at the Saint Luke AME Church Cemetery in Louisville. Rev. Wendy Morgan, pastor of Jones Chapel, will officiate and presiding Elder (Ret) David E. Reddick will deliver the Eulogy.

A Public Viewing will be held Friday, July 19 at Central Funeral Services in Louisville.