Estella Ree Ross Smith

How befitting that on the day we honor Mothers, May 10, 2026, an amazing Mother, Grandmother, and Great-Grandmother, Estella Ree Ross Smith, went home to be with the Lord!

Born in Silver Creek, Mississippi, on February 9, 1940, to the late Deacon and Deaconess Emmett and Hallie Odell Ross, Estella would be the only daughter of this union. Estella, affectionately known as Stella, Stella Ree, or simply Ree, grew up with two older brothers who adored her and two younger brothers who thought their big sister ruled the world.

The Ross family moved to Ohio when Stella Ree was nine years old. She, along with the family were amongst the earliest members of Friendship Baptist Church in Lorain.

Estella and her late husband, Sherman Smith, Jr., were married 43 years at the time of his passing. Being a wife to Sherman and a mother to their children were Stella Ree’s greatest joys. She was an amazing homemaker! Not only was she a superb cook, but she also had remarkable seamstress skills; was an excellent gardener, and if necessary, she was a plumber and electrician too. She also cared for many children of relatives and friends. She especially enjoyed volunteering at her children’s schools.

After many years as a homemaker, Stella returned to work in the Custodial Department of the Lorain Public School System. Following retirement, she resumed her full-time passion of caring for her family, which had expanded to include grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Stella’s love for her family and community knew no bounds. Her loving kindness extended to all the children in her neighborhood and especially to her nieces and nephews who knew that “Aunt Stella would make everything alright.”

Estella enjoyed traveling and had wonderful memories of her time spent in Italy. She often traveled to Las Vegas to spend time with her brother, Emmett. She spent extensive time with her daughters in Virginia, resulting in the last five years of her life residing in Virginia.

Estella was preceded in death by her husband, Sherman Smith, Jr.; son, Vincent Sherman Smith; grandson, Taru Lamar Smith, Sr.; parents, Emmett and Hallie Ross; and brothers, Otis J. Ross and Emmett Ross, Jr.

Estella is survived by her son, Ray Anthony (Brenda) Smith, Sr. of Elyria, OH; daughters, Victoria Odell (Anthony) Jones of Chesapeake, VA, Ramona Eugenia (Demetrius) Robinson of Virginia Beach, VA, and Anita Marie Smith of Lorain, OH; step daughter, Brenda (Billy) Martin of San Antonio, TX; 21 grandchildren; 30 great-grandchildren; brothers, James (Ora) Ross and Bobbie Ray Ross both of Lorain, OH; one sister-in-law, Mary Washington of Chicago, IL; two goddaughters, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

Visitation will be held Friday, May 22, 2026, from 4 PM until 8 PM at Brown-Robinson Funeral Home and Celebration Center, 6075 Middle Ridge Rd., Lorain, OH 44053. Homegoing celebrations will be held Saturday, May 23, 2026, at 11 AM at Friendship Baptist Church, 2160 Reeves Ave., Lorain OH 44052. Reverend John R Jackson, Jr., Pastor, is officiating. Burial will be in Ridge Hill Memorial Park Cemetery in Amherst, Ohio.