Pauline Reese Baird , 89 of Knoxville, Tennessee, went to be with her Heavenly Father on
Sunday, October 16, 2022.

The third of ten children, Pauline was born June 23, 1933 in Chaska, Tennessee to Harley and Hester Reese (nee Lay). She grew up in Campbell County, Tennessee, where she attended Habersham Church of God and cared for her younger siblings. She graduated from Wynn High School in 1951, then moved to Ohio where she attended secretarial college and found work as a secretary. She married Garrett Baird, Jr. in Habersham, Tennessee on June 6, 1953. They had two children, Pamela and Daniel, and moved from Cincinnati, Ohio to Solway, Tennessee in 1961 to be closer to family. While raising her children, Pauline loved to travel, sew, camp, fish, and lead Girl Scouts. She also attended cosmetology school and opened a salon. She lost her husband Garrett on January 21, 1979.

Pauline began a training program for Union Carbide, and worked as a security inspector at Y-12 until she retired. While she was working at Union Carbide, she married Jesse Blon Smith on May 8, 1982, at Solway United Methodist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. He passed away in 2003.

She was an active member of Solway United Methodist Church, serving on all of the church committees and leading the United Methodist Women. She loved to travel. When she was young, her mother asked her if she was going to travel to all the places she read about. She responded that she was. She spent a good part of her retirement traveling all over the United States and the world with her friends and family, even taking two of her teenage grandchildren with her on her second tour of Israel and Egypt. She loved gardening, filling her yard and her salon with plants that she had collected from friends and family. She enjoyed cooking and hosting holiday gatherings for all the family and friends. She made gorgeous quilts, giving them to friends and family and donating some to charity events. She spent a lot of time caring for her grandchildren while they were growing up, and loved seeing and spending time with her great-grandchildren.

Pauline is survived by her children, Pamela and Terry Kite and Daniel Baird, grandchildren, Christa and Sean Kavanagh, David Baird, Gareth Kite and Aliana Ayat, Cameron and Rebecca Kite, nine great-grandchildren, siblings, Ray and Ina Reese, Jimmy and Joanne Reese, Patsy Taylor, and numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins. She is preceded in death by her husbands, Garrett Baird Jr. (1979) and Jesse Blon Smith (2003), daughter-in-law Judy Clayton Baird (2018), mother, Hester Lay Reese (1996), father, Harley Reese (1994), and siblings Boone, RL, Joe, Estelee, John Earl and Wilma.

The family will receive friends on Friday, October 21, 2022 from 1-2:30pm.  A Celebration of Life Service will begin at 2:30pm with the Graveside to follow at Woodhaven Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, 160 Edgemoor Road, Powell, Tennessee, 37849.

A reception will be held immediately followng the graveside service at Solway United Methodist Church 3300 Guinn Road, Knoxville 37931.

From the staff at Woodhaven Funeral Home & Memorial Gardens - it is an honor to serve the Pauline Baird Family.

Pauline Baird - video tribute