JOANNE TALLEY SMITH, daughter of the
I8te Gladys G. Talley and Henry Talley, was born September 4,
1953. Joanne was the baby of the family and was spoiled by her
father and two older brothers.

Joanne attended Carter G. Woodson Elementary School and
learned to read very quickly. Her school had a reading contest
and challenged the students to read one hundred books during
the summer vacation. Her mother helped her with this project
and Joanne read one hundred books during her summer vaca-
tion. A male student also read one hundred books. The Afro
American Newspaper interviewed them at their school.

She attended Lemmel Junior High School where she studied
German. She continued her German language studies at
Eastern High School, graduating in 1971 and winning the
German Language Award.

She entered Morgan State College in 1971 and earned a
Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the
renamed Morgan State University in 1976.

Joanne joined Waters AME Church in the early seventies, under
the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Melvin Chester Swann. She
developed a love for singing and sang with the Melvin Chester
Swann Choir of which she was the president. She also sang with
the Joy and Devotion Choir, under the direction of John Leon
Lewis for twenty years. She was invited by Carolyn W. Franklin
to join the Community Concert Choir, under the direction of Dr.
Marco K. Merrick.

Joanne traveled to the Bahamas in 1981 where she met the love
of her life, Lawrence L. Smith. They were wed in April 1993 until
parted by death January 2017.

Joanne was a member of the Lay Organization and was a
delegate to the Annual AME Conference in Baltimore several
times, and was a delegate to the 2016 Quadrennial AME Confer-
ence where she cast her vote for the Rev. Dr. Frank Madison
Reid, III to become Bishop. She also served as a Steward at
Waters AME Church.

She was the Assistant Treasurer for the Stewardship and
Finance Commission at Waters. She was also an active member
of the adult Sunday School class where she served as its
Treasurer.

Viewing Joseph H. Brown Jr. Funeral Home Thursday, May 31, 2018 05:00 PM - 08:00 PM Email Details 2140 N. Fulton Ave
Baltimore, Maryland 21217 Directions Funeral Service Waters AME Church Friday, June 01, 2018 10:00 AM Email Details 417 Aisquith Street
Baltimore, MD 21202 Funeral Service will begin @ 11:00AM Directions