Clara Belle (Smith) Beale, 94, of Gaston, S.C., passed to glory Wednesday, June 18, 2014, at her home. Mrs. Beale became a resident of South Buffalo Township in 1979 when she and her husband returned to the family homestead after his retirement. Clara Belle was born Nov. 13, 1919, in Nuckolls County, Neb., the only daughter of the late Martha S. (King) and Hiram W. Smith. She had been a member of Slate Lick Reformed Presbyterian Church, 1980 to 2003 and attended Crosswinds Alliance Church, Butler, after moving to Concordia in 2005. She was a member of the South Buffalo Grange, the Pomona and Armstrong Granges and the State and National Granges. She was a faithful, devoted and loving wife, mother and grandmother who enjoyed reading, hand-sewing, flower and vegetable gardening, baking bread, pies, cookies and making strawberry jam. She also loved to handwrite letters to all her family and friends. She is survived by her two daughters, Grace A. (Wayne) Weible, of Auburn, Kan., and Adanna S. (the Rev. C. Steven) McGee, of Gaston, with whom she lived; eight grandchildren, Wayne A. Weible Jr., Katheryn G. Lansford, the Rev. Michael A. (Jenny) McGee, Jennifer L. (John) Roth, Hannah G. McGee, Joshua S. McGee, Geneva R. McGee and David M. Beale; and 11 great-grandchildren, Patrick, Mikayla and Noah Weible, Victoria and James Lansford, Jude and Peter McGee and Andrew, Abby, Aaron and Anna Roth. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by brothers, Raymond, Homer, Philip and Donald Smith; husband of 67 years, Clarence A. Beale, who passed away June 2013; sons, Philip A. Beale Sr., who passed in 1994, and Joseph H. Beale, who passed in 2002; and grandson, Philip A. Beale Jr., who passed in 1995. Family and friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, June 24, 2014, in the REDMOND FUNERAL HOME INC., 524 High St., Freeport. Visitation will continue from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday, June 25, 2014, in Slate Lick United Presbyterian Church, 106 Brown Road, Freeport. Funeral service will follow at 11 a.m., with the Rev. Steve McGee and Rev. Michael McGee officiating. The committal service will be followed by burial at the Freeport Cemetery in Freeport. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Gaston Evangelical Church, 1344 Mack St., Gaston, SC 29053; Shriners Hospitals for Children at http://www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org; Greater Miami Youth for Christ http://www.miami.yfc.net. To send a condolence, visit http://www.redmondfuneralhomeinc.com

(Leader Times 6/21/2014