Funeral services for the late Mrs. Clarice Olga Hall Smalls will be held on Friday, January 6, 2012 at 2:00 p.m. at Tabernacle Baptist Church located in Blackville, South Carolina. Interment services will be held at Blackville Community Cemetery, Oak Street, Blackville, South Carolina. Clarice Olga Hall Smalls was born on December 23, 1914 in Burlington, North Carolina to Amos and Ollie Hall. Affectionately known as "Trixie" to family and friends, she was the fourth of eight siblings. Trixie possessed a God-given gift to nurture and care for those in need. She provided a strong, maternal figure for her younger brother and sisters upon the death of their mother. Her warmth and generous spirit was not reserved for family. Throughout her life, she would always be there to lend a helping hand. Although she always spoke her mind, Trixie was known to be a compassionate and giving person. Trixie attended high school at the Almance Training School (Jordan Sellars High School) in Burlington, North Carolina. She went to college, received training as a nurse, and later worked in a doctor's office. Trixie married Ryan Smalls, who preceded her in death. Fortune smiled on their union with the birth of their only child, Ryan Smalls, Jr. Her journey in this life was a long and blessed one but the path was not always easy. Born in the aftermath of slavery, Trixie lived through the Great Depression, world wars, and segregation. When asked about her hard times, however, she would often tell her stories with a laugh or a smile. No matter what happened around her, she would say, she always had what was truly important; her faith in God and her love for her family. Trixie had accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and savior at an early age, baptized by the family minister in a stream near their home. In her youth, she became a dedicated member of Ebenezer United Church of Christ (North Carolina) and strove to serve the Lord wherever she went. Her later church homes included Mount Olive Baptist Church (Oyster Bay, NY), Tabernacle Baptist Church (Blackville, SC), and Jesus Is The Answer Church, Inc., (Harbor City, CA). Clarice "Trixie" Smalls departed this life on December 23, 2011 in the loving company of her family on her 97th birthday. Along with the sorrow of her passing, she leaves the remembrance of her wisdom, kindness, and humor. She is preceded in death by her parents, husband Ryan Smalls, brothers, Burie, Emmanuel, and Amos Hall, sisters, Berniece Reid, Juanita Williams, and Irene Sanford. She leaves to cherish her memory her beloved son and devoted daughter-in-law, Ryan and Rose Smalls, grandchildren, Ryan III, Terrence, Stephen, Claudia, Adam, Cameron, Anthony, Jimmy, Patrice, Daniel and Paula; great-grandchildren, Ciana, Dylan, Ryan IV, Josiah, Aliyah, Jaden, Makayla, Santino, Mia Rose, Amaya, and Matthew; sister, Ollie (William) Johnson, and a host of other loving relatives and friends.