Karen Smith Oct. 29, 1945 - Dec. 3, 2014 Atlanta, GA- At the start of his eighth-grade year, John Allan and a number of other students assembled for an unusual new class called Humanities. A young woman led the students outside to a grassy patch under some trees, and they began to talk about the coming year. As the session ended, a curious John asked the woman: Whose class are you in? "I'm not a student," came the reply. "I'm your teacher!" It was not just Karen Smith's diminutive size that had led him to mistake her for "a ninth grader," Mr Allan, now an attorney at Jones Day in Atlanta, recalls. It was an approach to teaching that seemed very different from anything the students had experienced before. For nearly 30 years, Smith's distinctive teaching style captivated students, first as a gifted teacher in Macon's Northeast High School and then as an English and Latin teacher at Haralson County High School near Tallapoosa. Her students read the work of Albert Camus, rubbed gravestones at Macon's Rose Hill Cemetery for a class called On Death and Dying, were introduced to the writing of Flannery O'Connor as part of a course on the Culture of the South and read The Hobbit while studying fantasy in literature. "She encouraged us to think outside the lines, to question and look at all sides," said Susan Lee Beasley, a student of Karen's for two years in Macon. Along the way, she collected numerous accolades, including several Star Teacher awards in Macon and Haralson County. She also helped write the gifted curriculum for Bibb County and contributed to coursework at the state level. Karen Felice Smith was born in Atlanta on October 28, 1945. She was raised in Tallapoosa by Ed and Charlotte Smith, who owned a family grocery store in town. Karen rode horses, played snare drum in the marching band, was a majorette and excelled in school - particularly Latin. She attended Wesleyan College in Macon, graduating in 1967. That year, she married Charles Grimes, a salesman at Coleman Meadows Pate, a drug wholesaler in Macon. They had a son, Chris, in 1969. In 1982, Karen and her family returned to Tallapoosa so she could be closer to her parents. Karen taught English and brushed up her Latin at the University of Georgia so she could teach it at Haralson County; it was a subject she was passionate about and loved to teach. She also loved to help direct school plays and was active in preparing students for literary competitions. When she could, she still taught outside, introducing students to the work of Arthur Miller and Henry James under the shade of a few trees. Karen was a brilliant cook, learning classic techniques from Julia Child's television show on PBS and Southern cuisine from family and friends. Her lighter-than-air angel biscuits and fruit-stuffed fried pies were always popular. She was active in her church and always kept a big garden. After the death of her parents, Karen and her then-husband moved often, living in Athens, Lawrenceville and Jasper. She returned to West Georgia in 2007, settling in Carrollton. Karen loved to visit her son and his family in New York, where she loved the food, culture and theatre. Struggles with her memory, which started in the late 1990s, intensified in 2007. She was diagnosed with "dementia of unknown etiology" in 2009, when she moved to Atria Senior Living in Buckhead. Her last 18 months were spent at Budd Terrace nursing home on Emory's Wesley Woods campus. In 2011, a group of her old students from Macon, including Mr Allan, Beth Jones, who named Karen as her Star teacher decades ago, and the late Lee Perdue gathered to raise thousands of dollars in their former teacher's name for Alzheimer's research. She is survived by her son, an editor at The Financial Times; a daughter-in-law, Jane; and two grandchildren, Charlotte and Henry. They live in London. Funeral services were held on Saturday, December 6, 2014 at 2:00 PM from the First United Methodist Church of Tallapoosa with Rev. Sonny Moon officiating. Music was provided by Lynn Cole. Pallbearers serving were Griffin Mitchell, Richard McMahan, Spencer Barron, Jimmy Prater, Charles Barron, and Charles Prater. Interment followed in Hollywood Cemetery. Sympathies may be sent to the family at www.miller-funeralhome.com. Miller Funeral Home, Tallapoosa, GA