Joyce Elaine Funderburk Smith's Obituary
Joyce Elaine Funderburk Smith was born on October 17, 1947, to the union of Andrew Buck and Katie Inez Dryden Funderburk. Elaine, 78, entered eternal rest on Friday, October 24, 2025, at Christus Saint Francis Cabrini Hospital in Alexandria, Louisiana.
She attended Oak Hill High School, like most of us, she crossed the river and found the love of her life. On her 17th birthday, she married her sweetheart, and together they shared 58 years. She always wanted a big family, and that is just what she had. Mama was a homemaker for years. She had a love for cooking and canning; you never left her house hungry and always took a plate home. But her favorite was cooking HUGE holiday meals for her family. Nothing gave her more joy than having family around her. She then ventured out of the home, working door-to-door sales for Electrolux, and as a cook at Calvary Baptist Church. Her passion was caring for people. For many years, she was a personal caregiver. Once coming home, she then cared for her loving husband, mother, and sister.
Her family was her world. She loved her girls more than anything. She battled health conditions for years and fought with everything she had; she had a will to live like no other. The last few years took a toll on her after a fall. She told us that Daddy said, “Elaine, whatever you do, don't fall and break a bone, you'll never get over it”, and he was right.
She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, and friend.
She is preceded in death by her husband of 58 years, Frankie Gene; twin sons, Rodney and Rodger; great-grandson, Joseph Emmit Gordy; parents, Andrew and Katie; one brother, Jesse Funderburk; and two sisters, Elsie May Williams and Sandra Louise Barnes.
Those left to cherish her memory are her five daughters. Janice Turnage and husband Russell, Margaret Nichols and husband Kenneth, Susan Gordy and husband Pappy, Joyce Counts and husband Michael, Kelly Davis and husband David, sisters-in-law, Carolyn Smith and Linda Funderburk, 14 grandkids, Patrick, Sonya, Tiffany, Kaytlyn, Josh, Amber, Shelbi, Brittany, Josie, Whitney, Riley, Braxton, Weston, and Ryder. 25 great grands Tai, Lexi, Austyn, Jacelyn, Drew, Jackie, Emily, Skylar, Chloe, Sayde, Neveah, Parker, Blakely, Joseph, McKenna, Randy, Paxton, Remi, Stella, Jackson, Haisley, Nola, Wyatt, Lennox, and Delainey, along with a host of family and friends.
Visitation will be on Wednesday, October 29, from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. at Big Hammock Baptist Church in Hineston, Louisiana. Visitation will continue at 8 a.m. on Thursday, October 30, until the time of the service.
Funeral services for Joyce Funderburk Smith of Hineston will be held at 10 a.m. on October 30, 2025, at Big Hammock Baptist Church in Hineston, Louisiana, Bro. Benji Rhame and Bro. Shaun Waggoner will officiate, and Interment will follow at the Smith Cemetery in Hineston, Louisiana.
Those honored to serve as pallbearers are Pappy Gordy, David Davis, Russell Turnage, Michael Counts, Joe White, and Timothy Busby.
A special thanks to Elara Caring Home Health and All Saints Hospice for the love and support our mom received, along with her excellent nurse, Brandon, at Cabrini.
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