Juanita Smith

(From Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home)

Marjorie “Juanita” Smith, age 94, of Marionville, Missouri, passed away at 7:22 p.m. on Sunday, March 1, 2026, at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, Missouri. She was born August 20, 1931, in Galena, Missouri, the daughter of John Raymond and Alice Louvina (Hardin) Frieze. She grew up in Cape Fair, Missouri, area and was one of eleven children.

She married Robert Owens but later divorced. They had four children, Joyce, Randy, Reta, and Tammi. Later she married Riley Eugene Smith. He preceded her in death on February 12, 2018.

Juanita is survived by one brother, Carl Frieze; four children, Joyce Bohanan, Randy Owens and his wife, Jane, Reta Owens and her fiancé, Paul Applegate and Tammi Carver and her husband, Larry; nine grandchildren, Shawn, Rease, Brent, Jason, David, Chris, Wesley, Sharia and Waylon and many great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

Juanita was preceded in death by her parents, John, and Alice Frieze; her husbands, Robert Owens, and Gene Smith; one great-grandson, Matt Donahue and ten of her siblings.

A visitation will be held from 10:00-11:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2026, at Crafton-Cantrell Funeral Home, in Aurora, Missouri, with a funeral service to follow at 11:00 a.m. in the funeral home chapel. Burial will follow at Fields Cemetery in Shell Knob, Missouri.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made payable to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital or the Ronald McDonald House, in care of the funeral home.