Ethel Smoot

Ethel Smoot peacefully departed this life on October 4,2017, at home with her family at her side after a long fight with Amyloidosis. She was born on January 11, 1941, in Neelyville, Missouri, and was raised, along with five sisters and two brothers, by her parents Arthur and Opal Cassinger. She was brought up in the church her parents and uncles founded. She shared a memory of travelling to church one Sunday during a snow storm, bundled up in blankets, riding in the back of an open wagon.

In 1958 Ethel married Mark Bellamy, Sr., and later had three children: Mark, Jr., Angela and Stephen. As a military family the majority of their duty stations were in the Southeastern United States and Europe, where they traveled extensively. Ethel graduated from University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Horticulture program in 1984. Her proudest accomplishment soon followed: opening her own flower shop, Brandywine Floral, in Grafton, Virginia, with the help of her daughter Angela and a long-time friend. She was nationally certified as an FTD Master Designer after passing rigorous oral, written and hands-on timed testing. She also won many design awards within the Hampton Roads florists’ community and was featured as a panelist for floral wholesaler shows. Brandywine Floral had the honor to help decorate the Governor’s Mansion in Richmond, Virginia, for Christmas in 1990.

Ethel married Jack Smoot in 1998. After selling the flower shop she and Jack spent the rest of her years traveling, cruising, boating, and supervising multiple house remodelings. Jack and Ethel had a special house on Little Black River in Fairdealing, Missouri, where they loved to sit on the deck and listen to the river running by and watch well over twenty hummingbirds jockey for position at the feeders. They made their final home together in Marlbank Farms in Yorktown, Virginia. She is predeceased by her parents and son Stephen. She is survived by her husband Jack Smoot; son Mark Bellamy Jr (wife Robin), daughter Angela Bellamy-Knowles (husband Richard), daughter Connie Reynolds (husband Lonnie), daughter Pam McFall (husband Kirk); grandchildren Lauren Kudley, Kaitlyn Bellamy, Ryan Reynolds, Matthew Reynolds, Jeremy Worthy, Jason Worthy and Eric Worthy; 12 great grandchildren; and her devoted dog, Sofie. Also surviving are her siblings Gene Cassinger; Dorothy Mullins (Cecil); Ann Holland (Charles); Wanda Wagner; Bonnie Petty (Harley); Darlene Chitwood; and Tim Cassinger (Theresa); and scores of nieces and nephews too numerous to count, but well-loved, nonetheless.

The family will receive friends on Sunday, October 8, 2017 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM in Amory Funeral Home, Yorktown, Virginia. A family service at Fowler-Sullivan Funeral Home in Neelyville, Missouri, is to follow within a week. She will be laid to rest next to her son Stephen in her family’s cemetery in Coon Island, Missouri.

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