“Love your family and hold them close. Don’t lose touch with your friends, and stay in contact with them. If you see somebody out that needs help, help them. Don’t let them do without,” advised Sharon Smith. “That’s what’s wrong with our world today: nobody will help anybody. Make sure you keep your kids and spouses close because you never know when their last day is going to be.”
Sharon Smith loves everyone she meets and would do anything she can to help others.
She really loves her family and cherishes every moment she can spend with them. She first experienced the loss of a loved one at a young age, but her family was always there for her.
“My mom was killed when I was three years old and my sister was 16 months old,” recalled Sharon. “My dad raised me until my Aunt Francis Kitchens told him she would help, and I lived with her until I got married.”
She worked hard in school to get her degree.
“I went to Quitman my whole life and graduated in 1972. I went to Jones Junior College for two years and got an Associate of Arts degree,” stated Sharon.
Although Sharon valued an education, she has always been a hard worker. Over the years, she has held a variety of positions.
“I worked at the Knitting Mill,” said Sharon. “I also worked at the Andonna Motel that used to be down where McDonald’s and Dollar General are. Mrs. Eileen Crawford and Mr. Homer Crawford ran that for years, and I worked for them in the office part. I worked there before I graduated.”
Once she graduated, she started a new career working with the newspaper.
“I went to work at the Tribune right after I graduated and worked there for a while,” remembered Sharon. “I helped do all the proofing, set up columns, and I typed up legals. When it came tax time and they put it in the paper, I had to type all of that.”
Later, she started a new career working at Ludlow in Meridian.
“The first time I worked at Ludlow, I did the billing, the computer, and shipping. They shipped, but I did all the paperwork. There were some nights I might not get home until 2:00 in the morning. If it was the end of the month, I would have to make sure everything was finished out before I could leave,” said Sharon.
She went through transitions in her life and moved away with her first husband, but after losing her husband, she returned and started working at Ludlow again eventually.
“Dale passed away in 1983, and our son, Christopher, was five years old. We were in Arizona, and I moved back home,” expressed Sharon. “I didn’t work the first year I was back, but after that year I went to work again at Ludlow. I had gone to the mall and ran into a lady that I had worked with her husband the first time I was at Ludlow and talked to her. She went home and told her husband that I was back, and they called me the next day and asked if I wanted my old job back. I said yes and went back and did the same thing a second time. I’ll never forget one day it was cold and started snowing. My stepmom called up there and told Dan he would just have to let me come on home because I couldn’t drive in snow and she didn’t want me out that late at night. He came and told me I had to go on home.”
Eventually, Sharon would transition to the job that most people recognize her from today: working with EMEPA.
“One Sunday after church in September of 1985, Mrs. Eileen Crawford called me after we got home from church and asked if I wanted to come work in Quitman. She told me Mrs. Dot Jacobs was about to retire and that they needed somebody to work part time. I wanted to do that since it would let me be at home with my son and not gone all the time with work. When she got to work that Monday morning, she told the office manager at the time, James Ivy, that she had talked to me. They called Mr. Murray, and he called me in for an interview. He called me back in the next two or three days and told me that I had the job.”
Things were much different when she first started. One thing that has always been a constant for her at the job has been great coworkers and bosses.
“My journey here at EMEPA started with a piece of paper and a pencil. All the meter readings were done on paper, and you had to add and subtract everything. We got one computer and was able to put some stuff on that, but other than that everything was done on pencil and paper,” reminisced Sharon. “I learned my job the old school way. James Ivy was the best boss I’ve ever had out of all the jobs I’ve had. He was very patient with me. Mrs. Eileen was patient with me because of the stuff that we had to do. Even to this day, a lot of the way I do the stuff is what I picked up from them.”
She is very close with all of her work family, and it was through her job that she was able to grow her own family again.
“Beverly and I have worked together at EMEPA. She’s been here for 33 years, so we’ve been together longer here than either one of us has been together with our husbands,” stated Sharon. “I was a widow for 10 and a half years, and I met my husband in the lobby at work. He came in to pay his mom and daddy’s power bill. I asked Beverly who he was. She said she didn’t know and I said that I didn’t know either but I was going to find out. The next day, his uncle came in, and when I talked to him, I gave him my phone number. Six months later, we were married, and we were married for 25 and a half years. I lost him December 18, 2019.”
After a little over 35 years working with EMEPA, Sharon has decided that it is time for her to retire. Her last official day in the office was February 28. Now that she is retired, she doesn’t intend to just stay home and sit still; instead, she prefers to spend quality time with her kids and grandkids. She also intends to try and become involved in some community groups.
“I plan to do some traveling and live as the Lord sees fit. I’d like to spend some time with my kids and grandkids,” explained Sharon. “I want to go over and help with the Helping Hands where they do all the quilts. I can’t sew or anything, but I can iron. I plan to go over there and help them.”
Her vibrant smile and welcoming nature will be greatly missed at EMEPA, but everyone in the community will still be able to see her around town. She will continue to spread love to everyone in the community as she enjoys her new retirement.
