Norma Rachael Nichols Smith

Norma Rachael Nichols Smith, 85, a wonderful wife, loving sister and grandmother, and the best mother known to man, left this earthly plane on 1 APR 2019.  The daughter of Heyward Emerson Nichols, Sr. and Augusta Virginia (“Gussie”) Shealy, was born 23 APR 1933 in Ninety-Six, SC.  After finishing high school in Mountville High School she earned a Business Education degree from Winthrop College. While working for DuPont at Savannah River Plant she participated in a carpool where she met her future husband, James Arnett Smith. They were married 55 years til death parted them in 2010. She was a fantastic cook and we reckoned her as a formidable opponent in gin rummy and bridge, but especially on the tennis court. Her schooling in business must have paid off, since one year she earned more money in the stock market than her husband with his PhD in Theoretical Nuclear Physics! Rachael leaves behind family members: sister Brenda Virginia Nichols Bailey of Greer, brother Virgil Rufus Nichols of Barnwell, son Mark Yeoman Smith of Charlottesville, VA, including his wife Shannon and their daughters Amber and Alyssa, and son Wayne Alan Smith of Clinton, SC, including his wife Suzie and their daughter Amy. A visitation will be held from 2:00-3:00 PM, with the funeral service beginning at 3:00 PM on Sunday, April 7, 2019 in the Shellhouse Funeral Home chapel with the Rev. Larry Gilpin officiating.  Entombment will follow in the Sunset Memory Gardens Mausoleum. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Trinity Hospice, 690 Medical Park Dr., Suite 400, Aiken, SC 29801 Mrs. Smith’s online guest book may be signed at www.shellhousefuneralhome.com SHELLHOUSE FUNERAL HOME, INC., 924 HAYNE AVE., AIKEN, SC To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Norma Rachael Nichols Smith, please visit our flower store.