Suzanne Puyoulet Smith

Published 4:55 pm Friday, May 13, 2011

Suzanne Puyoulet Smith, age 91, of Greenville, Alabama, formerly of Sylacauga, Alabama, passed away Wednesday, May 11, 2011.  She was born in Biarritz, France on January 16, 1920, to Monsieur and Madame Pierre Emile Puyoulet.  She was educated at Notre Dame de Sion, a private school for girls in Biarritz and the University of Bordeaux, France and the Baccalayreat Philosophy, cum laude, from the University of Toulouse, France.

She received the B.A. degree, summa cum laude from Samford University, the MA. A. degree from the University of Alabama and the AA certificate from the University of Alabama in Birmingham.

Mrs. Smith was a teenager when the Germans occupied France.  During the war, she taught private French and English lessons and also worked as translator-interpreter for both the U.S. Army Intelligence Service in Paris and the American University in Biarritz.  Mrs. Smith met her late husband, Edward Jefferson Smith, who was in General Patton’s Third Army after the war.  They were married in Sylacauga on February 16, 1950. Following Mr. Smith’s death in 1965, Mrs. Smith taught French and Humanities, serving her entire 21-year teaching career at Sylacauga High School.  She was inducted into the 18th Jacksonville State University Teacher Hall of Fame, representing secondary education.

She is survived by her children, Alice Dale Smith Tylander (Mrs. Gene R.), Jupiter, Fla.; Julie Emily Smith, Montgomery, Ala.; Fay Powell Smith Poole, (Mrs. Cleveland), Greenville, Ala.

Grandchildren: Patrick (Lori) Tylander, Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., Andrew Tylander, Jupiter, Fla., Suzanne Tylander, Ventura, Calif., Edward Poole, Montgomery, Ala., and Evelyn Poole, Greenville, Ala.

Great-grandchild: Parker Tylander

Visitation will be held Saturday afternoon, May 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Dunklin & Daniels Funeral Home, 812 West Commerce Street, Greenville, AL. (334-382-2667).  The family will hold a private memorial service at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Greenville Animal Shelter, 1310 East Commerce Street, Greenville, AL 36037 (334-382-7806).