Athens<!--Athens-->Funeral for Esther P. Smith, 86, of Athens will be Friday, Oct. 2, 2009, at 2 p.m. at Limestone Chapel Funeral Home with Larry Hicks and Joe Teal officiating. Burial will be in Athens City Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday from noon until 2 p.m. at the funeral home. Mrs. Smith, who died Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009, at Limestone Health Facility, was born Aug. 8, 1923, in Danville to George F. Patterson and Beulah K. Gibson Patterson. She was a member of First Baptist Church of Athens. She was preceded in death by her husband, William D. &#8220;Bill&#8221; Smith. Survivors include one son, Ewell P. Smith, and his wife, Rita, of Athens; one daughter, Nancy Murphree, and her husband, Garland, of Athens; brother-in-law Rudy Marquise of Athens; four grandsons, Eddie Murphree, Denny Smith, Mike Murphree and Stephen Smith; and two great-grandchildren, Morgan Murphree and James William Murphree.Pallbearers will be Eddie Murphree, Denny Smith, Mike Murphree, Stephen Smith, Jack Hunter and Billy Cole. Honorary pallbearers will be Robert Allen Tinnon, Dr. Wendell Shannon, Roy Keller and James Robert Sulcer. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Hospice of Limestone County.