January 18, 1927 – December 12, 2022
Margie Geneva Smith Delaney, 95, entered into eternal peace on Monday, December 12, 2022.
Margie was born on January 18, 1927, a daughter of the late James and Opal Smith, in Holly Springs, Arkansas. She later moved to West Monroe, Louisiana, where she attended the Ouachita Parish High School in Monroe, Louisiana. During World War II her family moved to California, where she met and married Elmer Delaney, Jr. on October 10, 1944, in San Francisco. As Elmer left for military service, Margie, along with her parents, returned to West Monroe, Louisiana. Upon Elmer’s discharge, they returned to his hometown of Mitchell, Indiana.
Margie went to work at Reliance MFG Company and later for the Indiana Telephone Corporation. After they went direct dial, she then went to nursing school where she received her nursing degree in 1971. She did her training in the Bloomington Hospital before going to the Bedford Medical Center (now IU Health) in the Intensive Care Unit, where she was employed for seventeen years before retiring. She was a member of the Bedford First Assembly Church. She was an art student at Marilyn Morgan’s art studio. She was a former member of The Order of the Eastern Star No. 503. She was a member of the Silver Sneakers Class at Healthy Balance in Bedford for several years before her blindness, where she was an inspiration to everyone. In 2002, Margie played an active role in the building of the Mitchell Memorial Playground.
Her interests included family, listening to her audiobooks, attending church and Silver Sneakers classes, and being outside where she enjoyed mowing the lawn, swinging, and riding motorcycles. Most of her time and energy were devoted to praying for others. She touched the lives of many with her persistent praying. She gave us all such courage. She was the rock that held our family together.
Survivors include her daughter, Cynthia Delaney Peters, and husband, Harold “Pete” of Bedford; son, Elmer “Jim” Delaney and wife Mid of Bedford; grandchildren, Kyle Peters and wife Rita, Trevor Peters and wife Brandy of Mitchell, Jamie Delaney Hayes and husband Mike of Heltonville, and Tracie Burton and husband Jack of Mitchell; great-grandchildren, Angel, Jerney, Autumn, Chance, Drake, and Corbin Peters, and Laney and Garrett Hayes; several nieces and nephews; caregivers, Mary Salmon, Jesse Holt, Rhea Lynn, Nicole Staggs, and Cheyenne Finley; and special friends, Wanda Buffington and Frankie Quigley.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Elmer Delaney, Jr.; son, Delmar Wayne; parents, James and Opal Smith of West Monroe, Lousiana; and three sisters, Ernest Dean Smith, Nelma Jean Smith, and Mildred Marie Brady.
Pallbearers: Trevor Peters, Kyle Peters, Chance Peters, Drake Peters, Corbin Peters, and Garrett Hayes.
The funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, December 17 in the Memorial Chapel of Chastain Funeral Home & Cremation Center with Pastor Bill McKee officiating. Burial will be at Mitchell Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 4:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Friday, December 16 and from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service Saturday at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you consider donations in Margie’s memory to the Foundation Fighting Blindness.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.chastainfuneralhome.com.
