Julia Gray Culps Smith Obituary
Athens - A Celebration of Life for Julia Gray Culps Smith, 96, was held on March 8, 2026 at Spry funeral Home in Athens, Alabama, officiated by Rev. John Ryberg and Reverend Martha Hauer. She was laid to rest in Roselawn Cemetery.
She was born on February 1, 1930 in Delrose, Tennessee, the only child of Frank and Virda Lee Wray Culps. Julia was preceded in death by her parents and her husband of almost sixty years, John S. Smith, a United Methodist Minister who served as pastor of numerous churches in the North Alabama Conference of United Methodist Churches for over forty years, most of which were in the Birmingham area.
Julia spent 10 years as an English teacher in Alabama secondary schools and 24 years as an English Instructor at Jefferson State Community College in Birmingham, where she retired in 1990. She graduated from Tanner High School in 1947, received a B.A. Degree from Athens College in 1951, a M.A, degree from the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 1954 and continued an additional year of graduate study there.
She was married to Rev. John Selby Smith on December 18, 1948, in the Athens First Methodist Church. They spent the following years in the itinerant ministry throughout the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. They returned to Athens in 1993 following retirement.
Julia was a member of Athens First Methodist Church, United Methodist Women, Logan Bible Sunday School Class, Pi Tau Chi, honorary religious society, Delta Kappa Gamma Society for Women Educators, Athens Limestone Education Retirees Association, the Athens State University Alumni Association, University of Alabama National Alumni Association and Association of Retired Ministers and Spouses of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. She was volunteer for the Alabama Veterans Museum for fifteen years.
Memorials may be made to Athens First Methodist Church, Athens State University Foundation (John and Julia Smith Endowment Scholarship), or the Alabama Veteran s Museum and Archives in Athens Alabama.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Julia Gray, please visit our floral store.
Athens - A Celebration of Life for Julia Gray Culps Smith, 96, was held on March 8, 2026 at Spry funeral Home in Athens, Alabama, officiated by Rev. John Ryberg and Reverend Martha Hauer. She was laid to rest in Roselawn Cemetery.
She was born on February 1, 1930 in Delrose, Tennessee, the only child of Frank and Virda Lee Wray Culps. Juli
Published on March 16, 2026
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