Carla Jo Smith Perry, age 84, departed this life peacefully on May 30, 2023, in the care of Alive Hospice Residence, Nashville, TN.
Carla was born January 23, 1939 in Pulaski, TN, the eldest of two children to Elmer Lee Smith (deceased) and Dorothy Brown Smith (deceased).
After the family moved to Nashville, she attended elementary school and high school at David Lipscomb. She began studies at David Lipscomb College and then married Jesse Taylor Perry of Nashville (deceased) in 1958. The couple departed for Heilbronn, Germany to begin married life as Jesse began his service in the Army.
In 1960 the couple returned to the United States, moving to Knoxville, TN where Carla resumed college studies at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and then welcomed their first child in 1962. A move back to Nashville was met with the eventual growth of their family by a daughter in 1965 and a son in 1969.
In 1971 Carla and Jesse embarked on building their dream home and moved into their lifelong residence where they raised their three children, welcomed four grandchildren and Carla welcomed her first great-grandchild.
Carla was a gracious hostess, making everyone feel welcomed and special, and over the years sprinkling her fabulous lace cookies around Nashville. She was involved in the PTA at Percy Priest Elementary School, the Green Hills Garden Club, the Ladies Auxillary of the Tennessee Society of Professional Engineers, the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association, Green Hills YMCA Tai Chi classes, and a lifelong member of Church of Christ at Green Hills.
As her children grew up, she embraced work at Metro Nashville Public Schools Board of Education in the psychology and special testing department, Welcome Wagon, and eventually in sales of education publications with Incentive Publications. She was a regular at Vanderbilt football and basketball games, Vanderbilt football tailgates, and loved live music.
She is survived by her brother, Richard Lynn Smith of Daytona Beach, FL; her three children: Jay Leslie (Gretchen) Perry of Madison, AL; Jennifer Lynn Perry Mabrey of Nashville; and Jon Lowell (Laura Franklin) Perry of Nashville; her four grandchildren: Jayson Edland (Allyson) Perry of Huntsville, AL; Ashlyn Allegra (Tristan Samios) Perry of Fort Collins, CO; Jacob Taylor Mabrey of Nashville; and Zoe Nicole Mabrey of Lawrenceville, GA; her two great-grandchildren: Jack Thomas Perry of Huntsville, AL and Amelia Lenore Perry (due in July 2023) of Huntsville, AL; her sister-in-law, Carolyn Perry Moncrief of Antioch; and her future granddaughter-in-law, Madison Baskette of Nashville.
Visitation with the family will be at Woodbine Funeral Home, Hickory Chapel, 5852 Nolensville Road on Saturday, June 10, 2023, from 11 AM to 2 PM. A Celebration of Life service will immediately follow at 2 PM. Private interment will be at Woodlawn Memorial Park at a later date.
Honorary pallbearers are Jay Perry, Jon Perry, Jayson Perry, Jacob Mabrey, Brian Williams, George Sweet, Dylan Altman, Randall Davidson and members of the Saturday morning Green Hills YMCA Tai Chi class.
Carla’s family would like to especially thank “TEAM CARLA”, the folks that have assisted us in navigating so many significant life changes in the past 15 months: Ascension Saint Thomas West; the staff of Blakeford and Woodcrest in Green Hills; Merrill staff of Corbin, Sandberg and Associates; Bobby Payne of FOR SALE Realty, Inc.; and Alive Hospice.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Susan G. Komen-Tennessee, American Heart Association/stroke, or Alive Hospice, Nashville. www.woodbinefuneralhome.com
For more obituaries visit https://davidsoncountysource.com/obituaries/
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