Rilda “Ann” (Smith) Altis was born March 26, 1945, in Dayton, Ohio, to Grant and Oneeda (Stephens) Smith. She went to her home in Heaven on December 5, 2024, surrounded by her family at her home in Mountain Grove, Missouri. She was 79 years, 8 months, and 9 days of age.
The Smith family moved back to the Mountain Grove, Missouri, area after the war, where Ann attended Mountain Grove Schools, graduating high school in 1963. While still in high school, she met and married Dale Gene Altis. Two sons were born to this union.
Ann was primarily a homemaker, but she also had many hobbies and talents which she used to supplement the family’s income. She baked beautiful wedding, birthday, and special occasion cakes, as well as making flower arrangements and sometimes sewing wedding dresses and bridal party dresses. She was an excellent cook and candy maker, and many friends and family were blessed with gifts of peanut brittle, fudge, and decorated sugar cookies during the holidays. Her peanut brittle was a favorite at the Mountain Grove Christian Academy Cookie Walk for many years.
During the years she was raising her boys, she was active in helping out with Vacation Bible School at First Free Will Baptist Church, where she and Dale were lifelong members. Her nieces and nephews have many fond memories of spending bible school week at Ann and Dale’s, enjoying her cooking and hospitality, as well as the companionship of their cousins.
One of her favorite hobbies was painting and drawing, which she pursued by taking classes from other accomplished artists. Her paintings won many awards at area art shows. She also enjoyed gardening, and planting trees and flowers all over the property where she and Dale lived from the time of their marriage. For many years, she and Dale operated a Christmas tree farm.
During their spare time, she and Dale enjoyed spending time on the water fishing with friends, where she would often out fish the others. She lost Dale to cancer in 1999. In her later years, she enjoyed time with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as well as traveling with friends and family. She also was a dedicated Mountain Grove Panthers fan, attending and listening to as many games as she could.
Ann was saved and baptized at the age of twelve, and once during her final days she told her granddaughter Gailene, with a smile, that she was looking forward to seeing Dale again.
Besides her parents, Ann was preceded in death by her loving husband Dale; one sister, Biddie; one brother, John; and one grandchild, Nocona, who died at birth.
Ann is survived by two sons, Dan and wife, Brenda, of Marshfield, Missouri; and David and wife, Sherri, of Mountain Grove, Missouri; one daughter-in-law, Teresa Keehner and husband, Richard, of Mountain Grove, Missouri; one brother, Grant “Bud” Smith, Jr. and wife, Becky, of Lake of the Ozarks; one sister, Edna Mae Dean and husband, Larry, of Springfield, Missouri; five grandchildren: Michael Altis of Mountain Grove, Missouri; Gailene Williams and husband, Gary of Mountain Grove, Missouri; Telisha Mastrangelo and husband, Domenick, of Skyline, Missouri; Miranda Smith and husband, Gunnar, of Cabool, Missouri; and Haley Zellars and husband, Peter, of West Plains, Missouri; six great-grandchildren, James, Reagan, Jacob, August, Lawson, and one on the way; as well as many nieces, nephews, and many other relatives and friends.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Providence Cemetery.
