Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth Hartley Smith Coward, age 79, a resident of Chocowinity, passed peacefully, Sunday, October 3, 2021 at her home.
Funeral services will be held 2:00 PM Saturday, October 9, 2021 at Edwards Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow in Pinelawn Memorial Park. The family will receive friends from 5 to 7 PM on Friday, October 8, 2021 at Edwards Funeral Home.
Mrs. Coward was born in New Bern on March 15, 1942. She was the daughter of Johnson Bryan Hartley, Sr., and Eula Mae Wooten Hartley. She worked in Child Nutrition in the Currituck County schools from 1985 to 1993. Later, she worked in Child Nutrition for Beaufort County schools from 1995 to 2005. In her spare time she enjoyed gardening, taking care of her yard, and reading. She was a God-fearing woman who loved the Lord, her husband, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren deeply. She never met a stranger and helped everyone she could.
She married Charlie Linwood Smith, Sr., who preceded her in death on September 22, 1991. On December 18, 1993, she married William Robin Coward.
Surviving with her husband are two daughters, Sherry Lynn Smith and lifetime partner, Patricia Ann Owens, Tammy Smith Cooper and husband, Kenneth James Cooper, all of Currituck; two stepdaughters, Penny Coward, Crystal Anderson and husband, Richard all of Washington; five grandchildren, Casey Pate Tucker, Kelly Smith Manning and husband, Jonathan, Travis James Cooper, Wyatt Ryder Cooper, Kaitlyn Cooper Savoy and husband Tavis; seven great grandchildren, Alex, Victoria, Garrett, Harrison, Kamden, Thomas, and Charlotte; step grandchildren, Robin Lilley, Kinnith Lilley III, Richard Anderson, Jr., Dillon Anderson, and Nathaniel Anderson; one step great grandchild, Alexandria; brother, Clifton T. Hartley of New Bern and a host of nieces and nephews.
In addition to her parents and her first husband of 31 years, Mrs. Coward is preceded in death by her son, Charlie Linwood Smith, Jr.; three brothers, Jack, Hilton, and Dannie Hartley; two sisters, Sonia Heath, and Dorothy Briscoe.
The family would like to give a special thank you to Community Hospice, her caregivers, Edwards Funeral Home & Cremations and Paul Funeral Home & Crematory in Washington.
Arrangements by Edwards Funeral Home & Cremations. Online condolences may be expressed at www.edwardsfhc.com.