Mary Lou Smith received an A. A. degree from Virginia Intermont College, a B. S. and M. A. degree from East Tennessee State University and an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from Virginia Intermont College. She was on the Physical Education faculty at Virginia Intermont for 57 years. Her community service includes 60 years of volunteering with the Mountain Empire Chapter of the American Red Cross of which she is a lifetime member. She was the first woman to serve on the Board of Directors with the Bank of Marion in Marion, Virginia. Serving on the Virginia Intermont College National Alumni Board many years, she was president of the Board in 2009-2010. She, her husband and son have a LLC business, Bristol Racquet and Fitness Center in Bristol, Tennessee. The family lives on a 55-acre black-angus cattle farm in Sullivan County, Tennessee. Her many interests include tennis, bridge, needlework, reading, canning and freezing the many fruits and vegetables grown on their farm. She has been a member of Gardner's Chapel Primitive Baptist Church since nine years of age and also attends Central Christian Church with her husband.