Rachel D. Smith

In the early morning hours of March 31, 2025, Rachel Delores Brooks Smith entered into eternal rest. She fought a good fight.

She was a strong woman, refusing dialysis for the past 4 years and she was still standing strong.

Rachel was born to the late Oscar Lyn and Betty C. Brooks on January 31, 1943, in Montross, Virginia. She was educated in the Westmoreland County Public Schools. Rachel joined Siloam Baptist Church at an early age.

Rachel married James A. Smith and moved to Tucker Hill, then 
later to Montross, Virginia. Their marriage produced one son, 
James Pernell Smith.

Rachel loved to cook! Her specialty was wonderful bread pudding. She loved to dance. She dearly loved people and people dearly loved her, especially her family and neighbors. Often when visiting her home you would find her reading the Bible. Rachel loved the LORD. She was a sweet and humble lady with a gentle smile. Whatever you did to help her, she always wanted to pay you back. At times she tried to pay her doctors on her daily visits and they would laugh and say, “Oh no, I can’t take that.”

God saw her getting tired and He put His loving arms around her and said, “Rachel, come home.” With tearful eyes we saw you fade away. Although we loved you dearly, we couldn’t make you stay, a golden heart stopped beating. She was a strong woman like her mother, she was Betty Brooks Strong!

Rachel is predeceased by her parents Oscar Lyn Brooks and Betty C. Brooks; and two brothers, William Brooks and James Brooks.

Rachel leaves behind to cherish her memory one son, 
James Pernell Smith (Denice); three grandchildren: LaQuesha, Courtland, and Termanie; great-grandchildren: Ezra, Janiyah, and King; four sisters: Elizabeth Ashton, Sandra Jones (Richard) both of Montross, VA, Minister’s Lethia Johnson (James), and Marie Brooks of Warsaw, VA; seven brothers: Pastor Frank Brooks (Gloria) of Hague, VA, Thomas Muhammad (Elicia) of Germantown, MD, Stuart Brooks, Samuel Brooks, Melvin Brooks of Montross, VA, Harold Brooks of Tappahannock, VA, and Wayne Brooks (Tameka) of Warsaw, VA; and a host of cousins, nieces, and nephews. 

A Funeral Service for Rachel D. Smith will be held on Saturday, April 12 at 12 Noon in the sanctuary of the Siloam Baptist Church, Montross, Virginia.

Interment will follow in the Brooks Family Cemetery, Weaver Rd. Montross, Virginia.

The viewing will be on Friday, April 11 from 4PM until 6PM in the chapel of the WELDON-FISHER FUNERAL HOME-and from 11AM until service time on Saturday, April 12 at Siloam Baptist Church.

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