SMITHVILLE — Mrs. Barbara M. Dowdy Hay, affectionately known as “Aunt Bootsie,” passed away on Saturday evening, April 13, 2019, at her nephew’s home in Smithville. She was 85.

Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16, from the graveside at Hebron Baptist Church Cemetery, with the Rev. Jimmy Melvin officiating.

The family receives friends between the hours of 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16 at Hancock Funeral Home, 427 S. Lee St.

Born June 19, 1933, she was a daughter of the late Daniel “Zeke” Dowdy and the late Annie Coogle Dowdy. She was born and raised in Sumter County. Mrs. Hay was a seamstress at Manhattan shirt factory and later worked at the Chinaberry Cafe in Parrott. She was an avid reader who also enjoyed sewing, decorating, cooking, and spending time with her family and friends. In her earlier years, she and her husband, the late Thomas Robert “Bobby” Hay, performed with a square dancing club, The Peanut Promenaders.

In addition to her parents and her husband, she was preceded in death by her step mother, Vera Short Dowdy; her sister, Louise Dowdy Stephens, two brothers: William Doyle Dowdy Sr. and Lawrence E. Dowdy, and a niece, Paula Stephens.

Survivors include nieces and nephews: William “Bill” Doyle Dowdy Jr. (Stacy) of Smithville, Debbie Oder (Randy) of Oglethorpe, Tony Dowdy (Cynthia) of Augusta, and Vicky Goodrum (Bobby) of Americus; one sister-in-law, Ivey Dowdy of Dublin; and numerous great-nieces and -nephews, and great-great-nieces and -nephews.

To sign our online guestbook and express your condolences to the family, please visit www.hancockfuneralhomeinc.com

Hancock Funeral Home, 427 S. Lee St., is honored to be entrusted with these arrangements for Mrs. Barbara M. Dowdy Hay.