Minister Emily Mitchell Smith

The Angel of Silence entered the life of Minister Emily Kaye Mitchell Smith on Monday, August 1, 2017, at the Bon Secours St. Francis Hospital (Downtown). Emily was a daughter of Theo Walker Mitchell and the late Greta Joanne Knight Mitchell. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee on November 5, 1959.

Emily was educated in the Greenville County Public Schools.Additionally, she participated in the enrichment program at the Greenville School of the Arts emphasizing in dance. She received a B.S. Degree in Elementary Education from Benedict College and was a divinity student at Erskine Theological Seminary. In addition, she studied under the tutelage of Rev. Dr. Caesar Richburg at Allen Temple AME Church.

Emily met and married Johnnie Morris Smith II, son of the late Bishop Johnnie Morris Smith and Delores Smith. To this union, one child was born, Dame Angelique Monét Smith (Sovereign Order of St. Jerusalem Malta). While a student at Benedict College, she was a legislative page in the South Carolina Senate. Upon her graduation from Benedict College, she worked at the State Human Affairs Commission and then decided to follow the footsteps of her mother by becoming a teacher. She became employed as an educator in the Greenville County School System at three different schools during her extensive employment.  As a youth, Emily was an active member of Allen Temple A.M.E. Church where she participated in the Young Peoples Division (Y.P.D.) and later became one of the Youth Advisor parents. She was a former member of The Links, Inc.

Emily was preceded in death by her mother, Greta Joanne Knight Mitchell and her sister, Tamara Joanne Mitchell Ford.

She became licensed to preach in the ministry at Antioch Missionary Baptist Church under the direction of the late Reverend Dr. Walter E. Davis, Sr.  In addition, she devoted the last years of her life to ministering to the elderly, children, and disadvantaged in the community.

“Emily K.", as she was affectionately called, was a sweet, loving, and kind person. She believed charity work was the love of God.

She leaves to cherish fond memories, a daughter, Dame Angelique Monét Smith (Sovereign Order of St. Jerusalem Malta) of East Hampton, NY; her father, former SC State Senator Theo Walker Mitchell of Greenville, SC; one sister, Megan D. Mitchell (Robert) Hoefer of Piedmont, SC; three nieces, Victoria Newton Ford of Washington, DC, Ivana Nicole Ford of Charleston, SC and Farron Joanne Hoefer of Piedmont, SC; nephews, Theo Walker Mitchell Ford of Chicago, IL and John Newton Ford, Jr., of Piedmont, SC; two aunts, Valerie M. (Michael) James of South Orange, NJ and Carole Diane Pierce of East Brunswick, NJ; and a host of special cousins, other relatives and friends.