Vazelle Smith Portis

With a great sense of loss, we remember our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great grandmother, Vazelle Smith Portis, age 94, a godly woman who entered the life eternal on April 1, 2019, following several years of declining health.

She was born Vazelle Smith on March 8, 1925 to the late Ernest and Ella Mae Smith. She grew up in Winston-Salem with her family of sisters and a brother. On January 11, 1942, she married Walter Taylor Portis, Jr. and recently celebrated their seventy-seventh anniversary. For all of her married life she was a resident of the Midway Township Community. For many years she worked at the Dogwood Hosiery in Thomasville and later retired from Kaby Mills.

Vazelle was preceded in death by her parents; her sisters, Virginia, Mary Jo and Dorothy; her brother, Andrew and a daughter, Jane Maria Cockrum. She is survived by her husband Walter; her children, Wanda (Leonard) Shirk of Prospect , Ohio; Priscilla (Steve) Cockrum of Mt. Airy; Mary (Larry) Wooten of Lexington; Marcus (Janice) Portis of Clemmons and Darlene (Larry) Pope of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina; nine grandchildren, twelve great-grandchildren, and one great-great-granddaughter.

Vazelle was an active member of Midway United Methodist Church, where the service celebrating her life will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, April 6, with The Reverend Chuck Ireson officiating, followed by internment in the church cemetery. The family will receive friends in the Christian Fellowship Center building following the graveside service.

The family greatly appreciates your memorial gifts to the Trellis Supportive Care, 101 Hospice Lane, Winston-Salem, NC 27103, or to Midway United Methodist Church, 9795 Old, US-52, Lexington, NC 27295.

Davidson Funeral Home-Hickory Tree Chapel is serving the Portis Family.