Ben Smoot

Dr. Ben M. Smoot, Jr., age 99 years and 5 months, of Beebe, Arkansas joined Bertha Saturday, July 22, 2017. He was born in Beebe, Arkansas February 22, 1918 and graduated Beebe High School in 1936. Ben married Bertha Parker from Devalls Bluff, Arkansas in 1942. They enjoyed 73 years of marriage before she passed away on January 5, 2015.
Ben was in the Army for two years before attending pharmacy school and graduating with the first group of Pharmacy students from the College of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas with a Bachelor of Arts Degree. The entire graduating class was later honored with their Doctorate degree in Pharmacy because of the extensive curriculum required of their class.
Ben worked as a pharmacist in the drug stores around Arkansas before accepting a position with the Veterans Administration hospital in Montgomery, Alabama from 1951-1959. He then transferred to the Veterans Administration hospital in Poplar Bluff, Missouri as the Chief Pharmacist from 1959-1976.
After 30 years as a pharmacist he and Bertha retired and returned to Cabot, Arkansas where they turned their joint hobby into a small business, Smoot's Ceramic Shop. Ben enjoyed clay work and molds, while Bertha provided the artistic talent to produce many beautiful treasures. She also taught ceramics classes from the shop. They later moved their home and shop to Beebe.
Ben and Bertha were both members of the United Methodist Church of Beebe, where Ben had been a member since he was a small boy. Bertha joined the church when they were married in 1942. They were active in many church activities and both taught Sunday School Classes.
Ben is survived by his two daughters, Leonda Jane Greer of Beebe, and Georgia Ann Hannah of Maumelle; three grandsons, William "Bill" Greer, Jr., John H. Greer and James "Jimmy" Ira Drake, Jr.; eleven grandchildren; three great- grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.