CAMPBELLSBURG – Anita Kay (Stephenson) Smith, 87, passed away surrounded by family on Friday, June 27, 2025 at her residence, the family farm. Kay Smith’s life was full of family, faith, food, and farming. Although she lived the majority of her years in one area, it was a beautiful life during which she strived to be open, learn new things, and love the people around her.
Named Anita Kay Stephenson when she was born March 3, 1938, she was called Kay by her parents, who were school teachers and part-time farmers. She grew up in Orange County, attending a one-room schoolhouse in Paoli before she moved to the Orleans schools. At Orleans High School, Kay played saxophone in the band, was crowned homecoming queen her junior and senior years, and enjoyed her friendships, many of which lasted a lifetime. After graduation in 1956, she left home for college to pursue an education degree at Indiana State.
Kay met her husband, John W. Smith, in 1955 when she attended State Fair Girls School while he was working at the state fair. After John graduated from Purdue University, Kay left college after two years to marry him on a very hot day, August 10,1958 at Mount Tabor Christian Church. That afternoon, they loaded everything into a car and headed to Atlanta, where they lived while John served in the Army.
After military service, the couple settled on Kay’s grandparents’ former farm and started dairy farming, growing it to 200-head of milking cows over the years. There they reared six children, Jeff (Kim) Smith, John (Pam) Smith, Joe (Beth) Smith, Anita (Brian) Oldham, Chris (Kim) Smith, and Jeremy (Liz) Smith.
In Kay’s cheerfully decorated, non air-conditioned farmhouse, the cleaning and the laundry never ended, and gum boots of various sizes lined the back step. Her gardens were adorned with colorful flowers next to long rows of green beans and tomatoes, which were harvested alongside large sacks of sweet corn and stored for winter use.
Kay always seemed cool under the constant pressure of managing a wild household with five boys and one girl, on a high-maintenance dairy farm. Feeding mouths that were always wide open with delicious meat-and-potatoes meals, that hayhands would gladly count as the best part of their pay. Sweet tea and fresh milk were always on the table, and her pies and cinnamon rolls were highly regarded.
Because she loved bright and beautiful spaces, Kay fit in time to sew household drapes and pillows. With her Singer sewing machine, she created many of her own custom dresses and outfits, looking sharp in the latest Vogue fashions.
Almost all animals were loved by Kay and, in addition to the farm animals, she housed horses, ponies, rabbits, raccoons, goats, peacocks, ducks, geese, guinea pigs, dogs, and many cats. She raised English Sheepdog puppies for a time. She fed and nurtured hundreds of baby Holstein calves. She was a bird watcher until the end, and from her kitchen window, she would watch swooping bald eagles that nested in the woods across her pond.
Kay had a non-negotiable rule that each of her children would attend at least one year of college and that they would use proper grammar — there were no “ain’ts” allowed. And once half her kids were through school, she went back to college herself and graduated with an education degree from Indiana University. She taught at Orleans Elementary for a short time. Realizing she needed to be on the farm, Kay left that position, but took her education knowledge to the Orleans school board, serving during the years of 1988-1994.
When an electrical fire burned John and Kay’s home to the ground in 1994, they rebuilt a house that realized Kay’s dream of windows that intentionally brought light into the right rooms at the right time of day. Though this house had air conditioning, Kay couldn’t resist leaving the screen porch door open to let in fresh air while enjoying a cup of coffee.
Kay was a forward thinker who organized the family outing 32 years ago that has been dubbed Smith Camp, an annual weekend for her family of 63 (and growing) to gather together, play games, and have contests. The enjoyment of these intentional gatherings resulted in her being the major backer of the Smith Barn, a gathering place built in 2019 on the land that has been in the family for three generations.
She believed everything would work out okay, a biblical principle that life is in God’s hands and allowed her to take what came with a degree of peace. She was a lifetime member of Carter’s Creek Christian Church, and her faithful attendance is evident in the story of when she drove a tractor to church because she couldn’t get any other vehicles started.
Kay carried many titles throughout her life. She was a farmer — a tractor driver, calf feeder, gardener. She was a child nurturer, chef, caregiver, fight negotiator, 4-H encourager. She was an artist — an oil painter, designer, weaver, cake decorator, potter. She had fun at outings with her Red Hat Society social group. Kay loved and enjoyed her 19 grandchildren, attending their sports and artistic programs, playing games, and gifting them handpicked books each birthday.
Kay was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2010 while she was caring for her husband, who was suffering from the same disease. After 56 years of marriage together, John passed in 2014. Though she was stricken by an illness that slowly took away her independence, Kay was kind and always interested in the lives of others. The family is thankful for the loving caregivers who helped her stay at her home.
She leaves a legacy through her 6 children, 19 grandchildren Joshua (Jodi) Smith, Jessica (Patrick) Alyea, Jonathan (Emma) Smith, Jacob (Whitney) Smith, Olivia (Logan) Walker, Simon Smith, Madison (Reid) Herran, Sidney Smith, Weston Smith, Kayla (Nate) Hammitt, Jarret (Anna) Oldham, Grant (Alora) Oldham, Zach (Shelby) Smith, Isaac (Jenna) Smith, Kristal (Vincent) Fank, Luke Smith, Josh Smith, Jaxton Smith, Hadleigh (Bryce) McCullough, and 20 great-grandchildren. She also leaves behind a brother, David Stephenson.
Loved ones departing before her are her mother and father, Dorothy and S.V. Stephenson, her husband John Wesley Smith, and her grandchild, Grant Oldham.
Visitation will be held from 3-7pm on Tuesday, July 1, and from 10-11am on July 2. The funeral service will be at 11am on July 2. All will be at the Smith Barn, 7332 Clipp Road in Campbellsburg, Indiana.
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