On July 19, 1970, in Heidelberg, Germany, Jobie, and Roberta Smith welcomed a baby girl into their family. They named her YVETTE RENEE SMITH.

The family returned to the States while Yvette was an infant settling in Clarksville, TN. There, Yvette grew up in a neighborhood full of African-American military families known to most as The Wood, Birchwood.

She accepted Christ at an early age and worshipped with the family at Chapel #6, later moving to South Chapel in Ft Campbell, KY. Yvette was a dedicated member and sang in the youth choir and served as a Junior Usher.

Yvette graduated from Clarksville Northeast High School Class of 1988. She furthered her education completing her Baccalaureate at Austin Peay State University with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Business Administration and completed her MBA at Webster University. A proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority INC, she could often be found sporting her pink and green with her mother, aunt, and cousins.

Yvette considered herself truly blessed to call herself a mother to her only child, Daryl.