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Carma Lee Broker Smith

December 30, 1936 - July 24, 2022

Carma Lee Broker Smith, 85, passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on the afternoon of July 24, 2022 at Southern Manor Retirement Home.

Inspired by her love of music, Carma lived her life with a song in her heart and started each morning with her hearty version of “Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day! I’ve got a beautiful feeling everything’s going your way!”

She was the family alarm clock! Carma was happy, sweet, kind, loving, and lived an inspirational life. She was devoted to her family, committed to her faith, and dedicated to helping others.

Carma’s roots were in Kansas where her family homesteaded in the late 1800s and continue farming to this day. After she married Buddie Ray (Bud) Smith, they moved to Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania, back to Kansas and finally settled in Statesboro in 1974. Carma declared each move an exciting new adventure that would build “character” and firmly understood that these new faces were not strangers but simply friends we haven’t met yet.

She put this belief into action when she and her dear friends, Barbara Murphy and Joyce Banks Bohler, organized the Statesboro Newcomers Club. Carma loved Statesboro and was committed to this community and worked tirelessly in fundraising for the American Cancer Society and Georgia Southern.

In the late 1970’s, Carma began her career as a real estate agent. She soon partnered with Betty Minick and they not only founded Landmark Realty, but also built the building on Zetterower Avenue. Carma mentored and inspired many new real estate agents throughout her career. Carma was an accomplished and successful business woman who devoted herself to helping people find their perfect home. And, according to her, that was the key. Helping them. Carma was honored numerous times by the Statesboro Board of Realtors and she was a Continuing Life Member of the Million Dollar Club.

Carma had steadfast faith in God and was especially inspired through music. She joyfully sang with the choir at Pittman Park United Methodist Church for many years, shared encouraging and motivating stories and songs through notes and letters and was known to add someone she just met to her prayer journal. Her positive outlook on life and confidence in the will of God were an inspiration to those around her.

Devotion to family has always been forefront in the hearts of Carma and Bud. In 1977, they began a family tradition of vacationing to Fripp Island, SC. Dubbed the Fripp Trip, every year, the entire family meets and spends hours walking on the beach, playing Dominoes or Scrabble, and feasting on a low country boil.

Carma was preceded in death by her husband, Buddie Ray Smith (1930-2011), and her parents, Gerald Edward Broker (1914-1968) and Eva Lavielle Broker (1914-1976).
She is survived by her children: Stephane Beauchamp (Brian) of Port St. Lucie, FL; Scott Smith (Cynthia) of Cumming, GA; Julie Smith (Dan) of St. Peters, MO; and Karen Roesel (Philip) of Statesboro, GA. Her grandchildren: Jennifer Morriss Cairney (Ross) of Statesboro. GA; Shelley Sardella (Tony) of Eatonton, GA; Adam Bilbrey (Ofelia) of Dunwoody, GA; Ryan Morriss (Taryn) of Charleston, SC and Jarrod Anderson (Justine) of Jupiter, FL. Her great grandchildren: Isabelle Lee Morriss and Henley Claire Cairney both of Statesboro, GA and Sofia Grace Bilbrey of Dunwoody, GA.

A memorial service will be held Wednesday, July 27, at 11:00 AM at Pittman Park United Methodist Church. Honorary pallbearers will include current and retired real estate professionals and Southern Manor staff. The family will receive visitors at the church following the service.

A separate memorial service will take place at a later date in Sylvia, KS.
The family would like to extend their utmost gratitude to Ralph Cowart and the staff at Southern Manor for their tender loving care of our mother for the past five years.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Pittman Park United Methodist Church, 1102 Fair Road, Statesboro, GA 30458, the Alzheimer’s Association, American Cancer Society or the charity of your choice.

Friends may sign the online register book at www.joineranderson.com.
Joiner-Anderson Funeral Home & Crematory of Statesboro is in charge of the arrangements.

To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Mrs. Carma Lee Broker Smith please visit our Sympathy Store.