Nina Blurton Smith

Nina's Obituary My Mother was born on February 3, 1924. When she was born, the 4th child of Oscar Lee and Vergie Patterson Blurton, she was so tiny that her mother was able to slip her wedding band all the way up her little arm to her shoulder. Back then to be so small and live was a miracle, she was a survivor. She grew up during the "great" depression in Bells, TN. Her parents owned two cotton farms that unfortunately they lost during the great depression. Nina's family was the first family in Bells to own a motor vehicle. Nina had 3 brothers and 1 sister, she was closest to her sister Mary. When Nina was 14 she left Bells to go to the "big" city of Memphis. There she lived with Mary and worked as a food server at Britling's Cafeteria. She fell in love with chess pie. She really loved her sweets, but pie was her favorite, especially chess pie. She told us stories about working in the serving line and ducking behind the counter to sneak a bite of her pie. Nina spent her life searching for chess pie where ever she dined. Eventually she left Britling's and went to work at Firestone Tire and Rubber as a dispatcher, this was during World War II. After the war was over she fell in love again but this time it wasn't with chess pie, it was with my father, Troy Cheairs Smith, a Marine veteran, who had served in the Phillipines. They married in Clarksdale Mississippi and bought a home in Memphis, TN. A few years later they had a son and 2 years after that I was born. In 1959 we moved from Memphis to Whitehaven, TN. When I was 7 my father passed away and my mothers true stregth and courage came shining through. Mom had to raise two children on her own. It was tough but somehow she managed to do it and did it well. My mother was the best Mother that anyone could ask for and I'm proud to call her my mine. I am proud of who she was, she was a wonderful sister, mother, grandmother and friend. When my father died, my mother could not even drive a car but she was determined to learn. She got into that car and taught herself how to drive. It was the little things like this that made her so special. To me, she was my hero. She possessed courage, kindness, was the most wonderfully generous person I have ever known but most of all, she was love. She was a innocent soul that lived a pure life. She loved the smell of roses and believed in the sheer beauty of life. She lived life simple with no pretenses, no expectations. She did nothing big, like cure cancer, but she persevered through adversity and raised her children all by herself. She was my hero. In life, there is no one like your Mother and I thank God for my mother, Nina Blurton Smith. Read More Read Less