Polly Williams Smith

PINEHURST – On Thursday, November 27, 2025, Thanksgiving Day, Mrs. Polly Williams Smith, 83, passed away peacefully in the comfort of her home with her brother, cousin, and caregivers at her bedside.

There will be a service at 2:00 PM, Saturday, December 6, 2025, by the graveside in the Bennett Cemetery in Wadesboro.

Born, Pauline Rosalie Williams, named after her mother, on October 4, 1942, in Richmond County, NC she was the only daughter of the late Dr. Dock David Williams and the late Pauline Rosalie Knotts Williams.

She was a graduate of Rockingham High School and attended Pfeiffer College. She met and married another Rockingham native, Lanneau Lyde Smith, an Air Force Veteran and Eastern Airlines career man, working in their computer center in Miami, FL. They shared a wonderful life together until his passing on March 16, 2024.

Polly also had a long and successful career with Eastern Airlines, which later became United Airlines, having worked as a systems analyst. Today, United Airlines still operates and uses computer systems Polly initiated during her career.

Her career allowed her to live in various places such as, Charleston, SC, Denver CO, Charlotte, NC, Miami, FL and Almetta, GA. Following her and Lyde’s retirement, they moved to Pinehurst, NC to be near her brother.

Those who are left to cherish her memory are her brother, Dr. Richard “Rick” Williams, and wife, Sarah, and her nieces and nephews.

In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by her brothers, Hampton Williams, Chief of Southern Pines Fire Department and Davis Williams, United Staes Navy, Retired.

Polly’s family is most grateful to her wonderful team of caregivers, Stephanie Blue, Vanessa Baldwin, Duriyah Devine, Faye Womble, Renita Kelly, Reco McRae, Lillian Seagraves, Lori Cockman, Marilyn Jones, Shirley Bullard, and Rosalin McNeill and her cousin, Peggy Williams Coble who all made it possible for to remain in her home and cared for there. It was Polly’s wish to remain at home until the end, and this group of amazing ladies made it all possible.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Bennett Cemetery Fund in Wadesboro or to FirstHealth Foundation Hospice, FirstHealth of the Carolinas, P.O. Box 3000, Pinehurst, NC 28374.

The arrangements are in care of Leavitt Funeral Home and online condolences may be made at www.leavittfh.com