Mrs. Henriene Smith Monroe was born on November 21, 1935, in Brooksville, Mississippi to John David and Susie Beck Smith. She quietly and peacefully entered her eternal rest on Friday, August 28, 2026.

She accepted Christ at an early age and joined Pilgrim Rest Missionary Baptist Church in Brooksville, Mississippi. She later joined Wesley United Methodist Church and remained a faithful servant for the Lord until her health began to fail. She served in several positions over the years as a Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School teacher, a Lay Delegate to the Mississippi Annual Conference, secretary, and Treasurer. She enjoyed decorating the church for special occasions and hosting the pastors and their families for dinner after church. Her love of Christ, family and friends were most important to her.

Reared in a family of educators and entrepreneurs she received her high school education from both M & I and Mary Holmes in West Point, MS. She graduated from Mary Holmes in 1954. Growing up with a barber for a father, naturally she became a licensed cosmetologist and built and owned her own beauty shop in Brooksville, MS after graduating from Cook’s Cosmetology School in West Point, MS. Always striving to improve herself, she became the first black surgery tech at Noxubee General Hospital. Later, she attended Mississippi State University to receive her Homemaker Specialist certification and taught adults nineteen years in the Noxubee County School District where she remained until the program was discontinued. Afterwards, she retired and focused more on her family but still decided to become a bail bondsman and alderman for her beloved hometown of Brooksville, MS. She was indeed gifted with many talents.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband of forty-nine years, Abraham Monroe. Also preceding her in death were both parents John David Smith and Susie Beck Smith, a brother Johnny Will Smith, two precious nieces Betty Ann Joiner, and Sierra McCoy, and three bonus children, Odessa Roby, Hermon Parson and Linda Monroe.

She leaves to cherish her loving memories seven children: George Mixon (Brenda), Lakeland TN; Joanne Richardson (Jeffery), Columbus, MS; Ricky Mixon, Montgomery, AL; Jessica Campbell (Sammie) West Point, MS; Felecia Jordan (Douglas), Brooksville, MS; Suzette Monroe (Tryence), Macon, MS; Coretta Bell (William), Starkville, MS; Six bonus children: Charles Monroe, Swan Sea, IL; Salita Williams (Larry), East St. Louis, IL; Beverly Monroe, Greenville, IL; Charles Monroe (Nicole), Cahokia Heights, IL; Michael Monroe (Katherine), East St. Louis; Lawrence Parson, Columbus, MS; Two loving sisters: Freda Jennings, Memphis, TN; Dorothy McCoy, Fullerton, CA; a loving brother Roy Smith (Pam), Columbus, MS; a very dear sister-in-law and love Martha Lue Hill, Crawford, MS; A very special aunt/sister Addie Washington, Chicago, IL; twenty grandchildren; fifty-two great-grandchildren; six great-great grandchildren as well as a host of beloved cousins and friends; Special friends, Mary Holmes, Dr. Mildred Gibson, Flora Mattox, Amanda Willis, Endi Ervin, and Daphane James.