Alyene Mims

Alyene Smith Mims of Fullerton, California, formerly of Inverness, Drew, and Cleveland, Mississippi, passed away on January 6, 2020.

Visitation will be held from 9AM until 10 AM on Monday, January 13, at Cleveland Church of Christ, with funeral at 10 AM. Burial will be at Caile Cemetery.

Alyene was born to Rushia Griffin Smith and Allen Glenn Smith and grew up in and attended school in Inverness.  She worked as an operator for the telephone company in Drew, and it was at the telephone office where the attractive young lady met John Edward Mims.  Alyene and John were married in Cleveland on October 10, 1950.

Alyene worked in bookkeeping for Springer Motor Company in Drew .  She and John moved to Cleveland, where she  attended Delta State University and became  senior accountant for Springer Brothers Ford .Her accuracy in accounting was well known, as she had a penchant for numbers.

In 1993 the couple retired and moved to Gore Springs but returned to Cleveland in 2009.  They were married for 63 years until John passed away in 2014.

In 2015 Alyene moved to be with her daughter, Jody, in California, where she made new friends but also kept in touch with her friends and family in Mississippi. Jody and Alyene spent many happy days in traveling, shopping, knitting, and craft projects.

She was a lifelong Christian and faithfully attended the Cleveland Church of Christ and her ladies’ Bible class.

Alyene will always be remembered as an elegant woman with beautiful  brown eyes, and as a caring and loving mother to Jody, and as a loving and dedicated wife to John, with a great sense of humor and a smile for everyone.  Her gentle and kind spirit touched the lives of many, and she will be deeply missed by family and friends.

Alyene was preceded in death by her husband, John;  parents, Rushia and Allen Smith; her brothers Griffin Smith and Pete Smith; and her sister, Donna Smith Anderson. She is survived by her daughter, Jody Couch-Maxwell (Sammy);  her great-grandchildren, Hattie Corrine Couch, Allen Couch III, Caroline Couch, and Emma Couch;  her brother, Charles Smith (Virginia); her nieces, Kay Reid (Jim), Diane Cook, Dene Smith, Nancy Hollowell, and  Joyce Pennebaker; her nephews, Charles Smith, Jr. (Teresa), and Benjamin Smith; and many grandnieces and grandnephews.

Pallbearers will be Bryant Reid, Buddy Ballard, David Camp, Mark Boone, and Charles Smith, Jr., Honorary pallbearers will be Charles Smith Still, Jim Reid, Samuel Maxwell, Jr., Ben Wooten, Allen B Couch, Jr., Allen B Couch III, Banks Link, Watson Cook, and Butch Mixon.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Cleveland Church of Christ, 212 Ronaldman Road, Cleveland MS 38732.