Lisa Smith-Jenkins

On Sunday, November 19, 2023, Lisa Smith-Jenkins, beloved friend, and mother of two, passed away at age 52. Lisa was best known for her authenticity, humor, fierce determination, and generous spirit. She had a loyal group of friends spanning 49 years in duration that were her close-knit tribe until the very end. Lisa deeply loved her two children, sons Cooper and Kyle Jenkins. They were the light of her life and her whole world.

Those who knew Lisa would tell you that she was a natural beauty. Drop dead gorgeous on the exterior was the first thing you would notice (she could have been a runway model), but then you got to know her spirit and realized she was also drop dead gorgeous on the inside as well!  Lisa was both the class beauty and the class clown which made her a unique individual. Lisa had a light within her that shone brightly. She loved people and was the first one to help with anything, remember your birthday or rescue a stray dog.

Lisa LOVED her Rebels – be it the Brandon Academy Rebels, the Ole Miss Rebels or Rebels without a Cause!  Lisa was a REBEL. She was never one to conform to society’s norm. She was often described as a spitfire or sassy. If it was on her mind, it was on her tongue! She was as you see her and loved her, and made no apologies for who she was or what she believed. She was amazingly true to herself, and her friends loved her fiercely and deeply for this. Lisa was truly loved by many, many friends and family.

Lisa was a lover of photos, memories, and mementos. Her close friends lovingly called her a “hoarder” of memories. She was “old school” and loved to print photographs and frame them and give them to her loved ones. She had in a box every flower she had ever received since grade school! She could spend hours looking at old photos, printing them and planning special gifts for friends. She sent a Christmas card to all her friends every year of her beloved boys, Cooper and Kyle.

Her friends and family would like to give a special thank you to the Baptist Hospital 6^th floor, Brandon Discount Drugs, Dr. Tammy Young, and Hope House for the devoted love and care they gave to Lisa during her warrior battle with metastatic breast cancer.

Lisa bravely put one foot in front of the other battling what she knew from the start was likely an incurable cancer. She did so with grace, dignity, integrity, and courage. She battled cancer to the very end; cancer did not beat Lisa. Lisa faced cancer head on, unafraid and armed with the love Christ.

Lisa would want all of us to remember her with a smile rather than with tears. She would want us to find comfort in knowing she is free from pain and home with her Heavenly Father, and her earthly father gone before her.

She is survived by her children, Thomas Cooper and Kyle Walker Jenkins of Brandon, Mississippi; her brother Dr. Mike Smith (Amy) and niece Cameron Smith of South Carolina; her mother Carrie Smith and the late Larry C. Smith (her beloved father) of Mississippi; and a host of family (aunts and uncles) and close friends that Lisa considered her chosen family.

A Celebration of Life will be held at Ott and Lee Funeral Home in Brandon, Mississippi on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, at 10:00-11:30 a.m. followed immediately by a memorial service. In lieu of giving flowers, friends and family ask that those who are able instead donate in honor of Lisa to the American Cancer Society, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, or the Blair Batson Children’s Hospital.