Graveside funeral service for Jahrea Smith will be 2:00 p.m. Monday, May 18, 2020 at Highland Cemetery with Rev. Don Barnes, Pastor, Lawton First Assembly officiating.

Arrangements are under direction of Becker-Rabon Funeral Home.

The family requests that in light of the COVID-19 situation that safe social distancing be practiced during the service.

Jahrea Smith, 81, Lawton, passed away Wednesday, May 13, 2020.  Jahrea was born June 3, 1938 in Anadarko, OK to Charles Friedman and Lottie Rhodes Friedman.  She attended school in Lawton at Whittier Elementary, Washington Elementary, Central Junior High, and graduated from Lawton High School in 1956. After graduation she attended Gulf Park Women's College in Gulfport, MS where she graduated with an Associates Degree in 1958. She then attended the University of Oklahoma where she studied business and fashion merchandising. While at OU she was a member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority. In December of 1960 she attained her BBA from OU.

While she was attending college, some friends introduced her to Roger Lee Smith. They had their first date at Herman's Drive-In in Lawton. They were married on February 19, 1961 and were married for 53 years until Roger preceded her in death on June 29, 2014.

After her graduation and marriage, Jahrea went to work in the family business her father had opened in 1944, The Vogue ladies clothing store. She worked there with her mother and husband until deciding to close the store in 1993. In the fall of 1993, she began her second career as a Library/Media Assistant with Lawton Public Schools working at Eisenhower High School until her retirement in 2010.

Jahrea was a member of Lawton Junior Service League and volunteered at the Lawton Indian Hospital and the Breast X-Ray Clinic. She was a member of the Lawton Business and Professional Women and coordinated the clothing and commentary for their annual fashion show for many years. She was a member of Centenary United Methodist Church.

Jahrea had a zest for life and enjoyed travel. She was always willing to hop in the car for a road trip and she enjoyed many memorable vacations with family and friends. Sometimes these trips included accidental forays into a men's room, or getting food poisoning and passing out, but there was always a fun story to share afterwards and she was a master storyteller, frequently regaling people with tales that would leave them laughing for hours.

She also loved to dance. She took dancing from Storey and Barton during her childhood and in the 60's and 70's she and Roger were members of the Four Seasons Dance Club. Later in life she and some friends took up tap dancing with her leading the class. As recently as last November she could be seen cutting a rug in the lobby at her assisted living center.

The most important thing to Jahrea was her family. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. She spoiled her family and friends with love and occasionally a peach cobbler or her famous sugar cookies. She loved fiercely and with her whole heart and we are all better for having known her.

Left to cherish the memory of this amazing woman are her daughter, Becky Smith Parks and husband Brian, of Lawton. Her grandchildren, Zoe Rebecca Gallops and Zachary John Gallops, and their father Scott Gallops, all of Lawton. Her nieces, Shelley Williams and husband Vernon, of Lawton, and Dana Corriveau, of Duncan. Her grandniece, Lauren Gillian and husband Robert, and their daughters Hona and Monroe, of Edmond, and her grandnephew, Taylor Williams, of Lawton, as well as many cousins and friends.

Jahrea was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Lottie Friedman, her sister, Hona Jeanice John, her husband, Roger Lee Smith, and most recently, her canine companion, Milo.

Memorial contributions may be made to EndAlz.org or to Hungry Hearts Feeding Ministry, PO Box 2751, Lawton, OK 73502.