Della Smedley
Della Smedley, age 96, of Breckenridge, passed away Wednesday, November 5, 2025. Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, November 9, at Morehart Mortuary Chapel with Rev. Don Bearden officiating. Visitation will be held just prior to the service at 1 p.m. Sunday, November 9, at Morehart Mortuary. Interment will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, November 10, in the Coleman City Cemetery under the direction of Morehart Mortuary.
Della Pearl (Fechner) Smedley was born September 24, 1929, in Amarillo, Texas, to the Rev. Adanoriam Wallace Fechner and Gertrude (Hipsher) Fechner. They moved to Coleman, Texas, at her early age, where she attended South Ward Elementary, West Ward Elementary and Coleman High School.
At the end of the first year in Coleman High School, they moved to Richland Springs, Texas, then to San Antonio. There she attended Thomas Jefferson High School, where she graduated in 1948. She attended Draughans Business College and worked for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in San Antonio. After her father’s death, she moved back to Coleman with her mother. She worked for The Coleman Production Office. After leaving Coleman, she moved to Dallas and worked for Ling Temco Vaught. She worked as a secretary for Arlington State College in the Fiscal Department, Rayble Jones, CPA in Fort Worth and History Maker Homes in Arlington. Della married Glenn Walker, and he worked for International Telephone and Telegraph, installing offices in Texas and other states. Glenn’s job often kept the couple moving to different places. He left International Telephone and Telegraph and went back to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in Dallas. They bought a home in Arlington and Della worked as a bookkeeper for History Maker Homes. Glenn was transferred to Breckenridge with the Telephone Company in 1976, and they bought a home on Hubbard Creek Lake. Della was a bookkeeper for Cawthorne Oil Company and later went to work at the Stephens County Tax Office as a Tax Deputy. Glenn passed away in 1991, and Della retired in 1993.
In 1997, Della married Robert Smedley from her hometown, and they enjoyed traveling, fishing, and spending time with their neighbors and friends. They enjoyed many trips with their friends from First Baptist Church and LLL, Chuck and Martha Loggains and Gene and Mildred Kribbs. They traveled to several different states and throughout Texas. She was an active member of Bethany Baptist Church and also enjoyed doing so many things with their friends at Bethany. Della was an active member of the Woman’s Forum and enjoyed playing cards.
She was preceded in death by her husbands, Glenn W. Walker, and Robert Ray Smedley in October 2007; her father, Rev. A.W. Fechner; her mother, Gertrude Hipsher Fechner Brewer; her brother, Cecil Fechner (Thelma “Honey” Fechner); sister, Ruth Fechner Benner (Harold A. Benner); and two nieces, Linda Fechner and Jeannie Akkerman.
She is survived by one daughter, Vicki Jan White and husband Tommy of Del Valle, Texas; four grandchildren, Shawn Duncan, Angela Thomson and husband Ty, Christina Sanders and husband Jason of Baytown, Texas, and Wesley Duncan and wife Misty of Castroville, Texas; 20 great-grandchildren; three nieces, Suzanne Benner Burda and husband, Glen Burda of Southlake, Texas, Jeannie Fechner and husband Roger Branch of Parker, Colorado, and Carole Fechner Buetow and husband David Buetow of Conroe, Texas; one nephew, Joe Akkerman and wife Sheri of Visalia, California; five great-great-grandchildren, with one more on the way; and several great-nieces and -nephews.
Memorials may be made to Meals on Wheels and may be left at Morehart Mortuary. Condolences may be made online at www.morehartmortuary.net.
