Laura Lee Dolbear Smith passed away peacefully in her sleep on August 31, 2026, just 26 days shy of her 100th birthday.

Laura Lee was born September 26, 1926, in a small house in downtown Jackson, Alabama, the ninth child and eighth daughter of Mathew Turner Dolbear and Sarah Jane McDonald Dolbear. Family and friends knew her as "Toodley," a nickname given to her as a toddler by her father's brother, "Uncle Boss."

A child of the Great Depression, Laura Lee was just three years old when her family moved to a small farm in Parkertown, now North Jackson. During World War II, she married her sweetheart, Hobson Pierce "H.P." Smith. Together they raised their three children just down the hill from her childhood home on what became known as Bridlepath Road.

The three great loves of Laura Lee's life were her faith in God, her family, and music.

She was a longtime member of McCann's Chapel Methodist Church, where she could be found in Sunday School, often as a teacher, and always in the church choir, which was itself largely filled with members of her extended family. Her faith remained central throughout her life, and after moving to Baldwin County in her later years, she regularly attended Providence United Methodist Church.

Music was woven into the life of the Dolbear family, and especially into Toodley's home. At almost any time, a sister, brother, relative, or friend might drop by to play the guitar or piano and sing a few songs. Toodley and H.P. kept an open door for family and friends, and their home was the scene of countless gatherings and "pickings" that often lasted well into the night. A natural hostess, Toodley could seemingly produce a cake or pie at a moment's notice whenever family or friends gathered.

Laura Lee worked for a brief time in the Knitting Department at Vanity Fair Mills, but most of her life was devoted to what she loved most: making a home, raising her children, cooking, spending time with her large and close-knit family, serving her church, and enjoying music.

After H.P.'s death in 2000, life was never quite the same for Laura Lee. In 2008, she moved to Baldwin County to be near her children, Larry and Jane. In her later years, she made her home with Jane and her husband, surrounded by the family she had spent a lifetime loving and caring for.

Laura Lee was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Hobson Pierce Smith; her daughter, Laura Lynn Smith Moorer; her parents, Mathew Turner Dolbear and Sarah Jane McDonald Dolbear; and her siblings, Velma Dolbear Whisenant, Chester Isham Dolbear, Lucille Gwin Dolbear Parker, Vivian Dolbear Mathews, Viola Dolbear Hartman, Lottie Mae Dolbear May Kent, Bertha Dolbear May, Lillian Virginia Dolbear Willoughby, Mathew Clyde Dolbear, Sarah Marie Dolbear McCorquodale, David DeVaine Dolbear, and Georgia Anita Dolbear Spillars.

She is survived by her children, Lawrence Pierce Smith and Stella Jane Smith Courtois; her grandchildren, Shelby Lynn Moorer, Joseph Pierce Johnson, Lance Pierce Smith, Allison Moorer, Lacy Dawn Smith Brice, and Jaime Lynn Johnson Warren; and her great-grandchildren, Alyson Paige Smith, William Ryan Brice, Alexander Keith Brice, Brandi Lynn Warren, Garrett Pierce Brice, John Henry Earle, and Ashlee Jane Warren. She is also survived by her siblings, Gaynor Faye Dolbear Sanders and Gene Turner Dolbear, along with generations of nieces, nephews, extended family members, and friends who were blessed to share in her remarkable life.

Toodley's life was rooted in faith, family, home, and song. Those who loved her will mourn her passing, but even more, they will celebrate the extraordinary life she was given and the generations of family she leaves behind.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be made in Laura Lee's memory to EverGrow Farm (www.evergrowfarm.org), a nonprofit serving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities of all ages, a cause close to the family's heart.

After nearly 100 years here, Laura Lee has gone home to the Lord, where her beloved H.P. was waiting.