Ninety-seven-year-old Christy Smith of Ada, is the recipient of Oklahoma Farm Bureau’s new Young Farmers and Ranchers Lifetime Legacy Award. The announcement was made Nov. 12, at OFB’s 70th Annual Convention in Oklahoma City.

The YF&R Lifetime Legacy Award serves as a living memorial for a member, recognizing their life achievements. It is intended to honor an individual who has spent their life enriching and inspiring rural Oklahomans’ quality of life.

Christy is originally from Ohio and worked as a nanny in the Cincinnati area before studying to become a registered nurse. After completing three years of training and passing her board exams, she enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II and was assigned to a heavy combat area in Europe. Over the course of her career, she would help care for the U.S. Army’s sickest patients, working in environments that ranged from an Army base in California to a makeshift hospital in the Philippine jungle.

Smith moved to Ada in 1946 to take a nursing job. She worked at the Valley View Regional Hospital for 30 years before retiring in 1974. While working in Ada, she met her late husband, Artie, and the two worked side-by-side on his father’s farm. The couple became involved in Farm Bureau and Smith served many years as a member of the Pontotoc County Women’s Committee.

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Christy Smith of Pontotoc County received the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Young Farmers and Ranchers Lifetime Legacy Award. Smith, an Ada resident, was chosen to receive the award because of her exemplary life, which included serving as a nurse in World War II.