Jimmie Oneal Pate

PATE, Mr. Jimmie O’Neal “Smiley”, age 83, a resident of Goshen, AL, died Friday, April 17, 2015. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2015 at 2 PM from Turner Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Thomas Mayberry and Rev. Steve Carson officiating. Interment will follow in Faith Hill Cemetery with Turner Funeral Home of Luverne directing and will include military honors. Mr. Pate was a faithful man who loved people and was a member of Faith Hill Assembly of God Church. He loved to read his bible every day and to help his friends. He always had a smile on his face and to many he was known as the “Sweet Potato Man.” Mr. Pate loved to raise and sell vegetables and extended credit to those who needed help. He loved his grandchildren and helped them when he could. He worked at many jobs, including farming, the cotton mill in Greenville, the Luverne hatchery, the peanut mill in Goshen, and he cut firewood to sell. He retired from the Alabama Army National Guard after 34 years of service. Mr. Pate was preceded in death by his daughter, Linda Carol Pate; his son, Jimmy Dale Pate; his grandson, Jason O. Kelley; and parents, Rufus and Maysie Baker Pate. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Susie Mitchell Pate; four children, Charlotte (Larry) Fuller, Joyce (Bobby) Jeffcoat, Connie (Warren) Smith, and Larry Pate; nine grandchildren, Joseph (Melissa) Hurley, Matthew (Amy) Hurley, Kevin (Laura) Hurley, Melissa (Bill) Robertson, Richard Pate, Brenda Owens, Jennifer (Josh) Pate, Thomas Smith, and Eric Smith; twelve great-grandchildren, Abigal Hurley, Page Robertson, Brooke Robertson, Grace Robertson, Dawn Robertson, Thomas Hurley, Tyler Hurley, “Little” Matthew Hurley, Madison Hurley, Chase Owens, Dalton Lanier, and Harleigh Lanier; three sisters, Hazel Pate, Helen Pate, and Ruth Pate; and two brothers, Leon Pate and Benise Pate. Active pallbearers will be Matthew Hurley, Kevin Hurley, Richard Pate, Joseph Hurley, Sam McHenry, and Thomas Smith. The family will receive friends at the funeral Saturday from 12:30 pm until service time.