Tonya Oaks Smith
A Celebration of Life Service of Dr. Tonya Oaks Smith, Executive Director of Communications and Marketing at Louisiana Tech University, will be held on Monday, April 10, at University Hall on Louisiana Tech University’s campus. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m. followed by a service at 11 a.m.
Tonya died Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at the age of 50. She was born June 23, 1972, in West Monroe, to Butch and Becky Oaks of Calhoun. In 1990, Tonya was an alumnae of the first graduating class of West Ouachita High School and continued her education at Louisiana State University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in English.
While in Baton Rouge, Tonya met Keith Smith, marrying in 1995. Their daughter, Rebekah Marshall was born in 1997. During a brief stint in Ruston, Tonya worked and wrote for the Ruston Daily Leader. The family relocated to Little Rock, Arkansas, where Tonya continued her education at University of Arkansas in Little Rock acquiring a Masters Degree in Communication. Tonya worked at ULAR and Henderson State in Arkadelphia in communications.
In 2017, the family relocated to Ruston where Tonya headed the communications department. In 2023, she received her Doctorate of Education at Louisiana Tech University.
Tonya devoted her professional career to the enrichment of higher education, for both the lives of students and educators alike. W.B. Yates said, “Education is not the filling of the pot but the lighting of a fire,” and Tonya embodied that motto every day in her career.
Her love of learning sparked a flame that inspired her colleagues around the country through her work with organizations like the HEWeb program. “Marley’s Mom,” as she was affectionately known to most online, was wickedly smart, incredibly charming, and passionate about encouraging educators to use their potential to make the world a better place.
Tonya was preceded in death by grandparents, C. W. and Mary Aswell and Emerson and Dorothy Oaks.
She is survived by her devoted husband of 28 years, Louis Keith Smith; their daughter, Rebekah Marshall ( Marley), her father and mother, Butch and Rebekah Oaks; brother, Emerson Oaks V; Kristen Oaks White (Landon); nephew, Theodore White, and brothers-inlaw, Marshall Gregory Smith and James Andrew Smith.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Tonya’s favorite cause, Louisiana Tech University Scholarship Fund.
Online condolences may be extended to the family at www.kilpatrickfuneralhomes. com.
