Mrs. Anita Gail Smith Johnson, age 64 of Murphy, NC, formerly of Ellijay, passed away on Tuesday, April 18th, 2023 at the Piedmont Mountainside Hospital.

Gail was born on July 27th, 1958, in Gilmer County to Walter Lewis Smith and Bennetta Allen Smith. She is preceded in death by her father, Lewis Smith, and one brother, Tony Smith.

Gail was a member of the Flat Branch Baptist Church. She graduated from Gilmer High School where she was a member of the Marching Band playing the saxophone. She also learned to play the piano during her teens and loved to sing.

Gail growing up was just "one of the boys" and loved riding dirt bikes with her brother Tony and Uncle Billy, she would ride just as hard as they did. As a young child she was very mischievous and one such story is about her partner in crime cousin Randy Stover and herself. She was at her Aunt Juanita's, and her Aunt came in from work and when she opened the door the heat overtook her so she went to check the AC as it was the middle of summer in Georgia, she found them bundled up in blankets on the couch and they had turned the heat on in the middle of summer because they got in the freezer and on a dare the ate 40 popsicles between the both of them.

Another story involving again her partner in crime Randy, one day her Uncle Billy and Brother Tony went riding on the dirt bikes and didn't invite Randy and Gail, so they decided to follow on foot. They packed a picnic of peanut butter sandwiches and took the family pet a Boston Terrier Sport. They ended up getting lost and were gone so long they were so worried about the dog they each gave him half their sandwich and since he was panting carried him. They then got lost, the family started getting worried as back then parents didn't get worried till evening time and coming on that time they knew they needed to call search and rescue. In the meantime Randy and Gail had found themselves all the way over on Board Town at a nice family's home who invited them in for dinner. The rescue found them there all safe and tummies full from dinner that day. Her Brother Tony said after they found them why didn't they put the dog down and he would have led them home.

One more this was when she was a teenager, she took her Dad's car without permission to go see a friend and the car caught fire. Scared for her life she made the friend come home with her to tell her Dad she took the car and nothing was left but the frame. Gail, even to current day never had very good luck with cars.

She spent her younger working years as medical secretary in different hospitals in North Georgia and North Carolina. She was always a very creative person and later in life took up crafts more and more. She loved crafting and making things for family and friends. Just this past Christmas she made all of the family a Christmas Ornament with their names on them. She always made you something for your Birthday and for Christmas, she made Birdhouses, jewelry boxes, picture frames, decorative storage boxes, and dream catchers to just name a few. Another talent was her cooking, she could make the best potato salad, lasagna and dressing. She loved to cook for family and never missed an opportunity to get together and bring one of her famous dishes.

She also had a love for flowers and animals. She even recently had a pet Racoon who took up on the front porch eating the cats food. She wouldn't let Carl get rid of it and she started making sure it had food daily. In the past year she has taken in three rescue dogs, one who was tied to a tree and two small dogs who were about to go to the Humane Society.

She married the love of her life Carl Johnson in 1976, they met when Carl had a logging accident and was brought into the hospital where Gail worked. A fellow nurse told her there was a man in the room with the prettiest blue eyes that needed cleaning up. Gail immediately got her supplies and headed into the room and the rest is history. They lived most of their marriage in a cabin in the mountains of North Carolina in an area called Unaka. They didn't have an indoor bathroom, which to her younger sister and her nieces was the coolest as they got to take showers in the back yard with the water hose. Also, part of the charm of their home was they had a radio that played country music 24/7/365 days a year. They never had children of their own but that didn't mean they didn't have children. Their kids were their nieces and younger sister. Later, they had to joy of helping raise Carl's Sisters kids. They loved those children as if they were their own. So to not have any children they ended up with a lot, six of them. When those kids had their own, they were right there for them as well as surrogate grandparents. Early in Carl and Gail's marriage they loved to go dancing so you would never find them home on Saturday nights as they spent those at the dance hall to wee hours of the night with her brother Tony and Sherry, they so enjoyed life.

Gail fought a good fight, fighting Breast Cancer for 10 years. At her death she was at peace with her fight and ready to go home to be with the Lord and family who has gone on before.

Gail is survived by her husband, Carl Johnson; mother, Bennetta Smith; sister and brother-in-law, Sarah Christy and Ricky Blalock; sisters-in-law, Sherry (Keith) Rogers, Mary Smith, Shirley Hayes, Cathy Farmer, Helen Killian, Margie Moss, Pam Demetry, and Evelyn Clayton; Aunts, Juanita (Dennis) McNamara, Lola Presley, and Mary (Andrew ) Whitley; Uncles, Wendell (Patti) Allen, Billy Allen, Ren (Edwina) Stover, and David Welch; her niece and her family, Susan Rene' (Lynn) Bafford, Cheynne (Chase) Burrell, Laramie, Chace Campbell, Kaiden, Cami, Ahvi Bafford, Max Bafford; niece and her family, Jessica (Mark) Eckles, Christian Harrison and Family, Jordan Eckles, and family, Lily and Leah Eckles; niece, Shayla Blalock; special children, David, Jaka, and Alex Jones; special "Sisters of the Heart", Stephanie Benny, Terry Russell, Regina Stover, Clara Lloyd, and Shawana Allen.

Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, April 22nd, 2023 at 2:00 p.m. from the Chapel of Bernhardt Funeral Home with Rev. Gary Watkins officiating. Interment will follow in the Yukon Cemetery. Pallbearers serving will include: Randy Stover, Donnie Bailey, James Davis, Bobby Stover, Chris Campell, Lynn Bafford, Chase Burrell, Ricky Blalock, Chace Campell, and Mark Eckles.

The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Friday, April 21st, 2023 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m.

Food and Flowers will be accepted in memory of Mrs. Anita Gail Smith Johnson.

Bernhardt Funeral Home of Ellijay is in charge of these arrangements.