Funeral services for Patsy Ruth Smith Gasperson, 79, of Marshall, TX, will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 6, 2014, at First Baptist Church of Marshall. Bro. Ryan Berryhill and Dr. Hollie Atkinson will officiate. Entombment will follow in Colonial Gardens Mausoleum. A time of visitation for family and friends will be held from 5:30 p.m., Friday, December 5, 2014 at Downs Funeral Home. Dr. Gasperson passed away December 3, 2014 at her home. Pat Smith Gasperson was born in Smackover, Arkansas, on February 3, 1935, the middle child of Fred Smith and Jessie Swilley Smith. She graduated from Norphlet High School, Ouachita Baptist University and the University of Arkansas as she prepared for a life in her chosen profession. Post graduate work was completed at Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, East Texas State University (now Texas A&M) in Commerce and the University of Texas at Austin. Pat Gasperson began her teaching career in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1956. In 1962, while driving through Texas, she passed through Marshall and announced to her family that Marshall was where she planned to teach next. She applied to then Superintendent Von Rhea Beane, only to receive the discouraging news that only rarely was there a social studies opening in the district. "Rarely" happened in 1963. There was a vacancy and she was hired and was to remain in the district, rising rapidly through the ranks until her retirement as superintendent in 1994. Pat was in the classroom from 1956-1968. She quickly distinguished herself as the "singing history teacher." She became widely recognized for her high standards and for her outstanding success in working with students. She began her ascent on the administrative staff as Coordinator of Instruction from 1968-1972. She continued to move forward. Her selection as superintendent in 1984 made her the first female to be superintendent of a 5-A district in Texas. Her ten-year stint in this office brought other firsts. She followed an instructional path to the superintendency. She was first to win the Freedom Foundation award. This was for a patriotic program which she wrote and directed. Wise management of the school district's money enabled her to make much needed building repairs and built a new administration building. In 1984, Pat married Adrian Gasperson who was a school principal at the time. He preceded her in death in 2004. Pat Gasperson received many honors and awards: Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, Outstanding Young Women in America, Teacher of the Year in West Memphis Senior High School, Teacher of the Year in Marshall High School, Yearbook Dedication-Marshall High School, Personalities of the South, Who's Who in Education, Woman of Achievement Award-Business and Professional Women's Club, Delta Kappa Gamma Scholarship named in her Honor, Life membership-Texas Congress of Parents and Teachers, Freedom's Foundation Award, Mirabeau B. Lamar Educational Award, Oddfellows Educational Award, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters conferred by East Texas Baptist University, Texas Vocational Administrator of the Year Award, Administrator of the Year-Texas Classroom Teachers Association, Texas Association of School Administrators Superintendent of the Year Regional Award, and Outstanding Citizen of Marshall-Greater Marshall Chamber of Commerce. Surviving Pat are her brother, Fred Hardy Smith of Norphlet, Arkansas; nephews, Fred Smith of Norphlet, Arkansas, David Smith of New York, Robert Gordon of Taylor, Arkansas; and numerous friends and other relatives. She was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Jessie Smith; her husband, Adrian Gasperson; and her sister, Elizabeth Gordon. Pallbearers will be Doug Williamson, Bobby Page, Ned Dennis, Dr. J. Brian Nichols, Ken Goolsby and James Thompson. Honorary pallbearers will be Gary Closkey, Bill Hatfield, Russ Collier, Hal Evans, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Kariel, Dr. and Mrs. George Bennett, Al Walsh and Tim Perkins.