When Retta Lee Fowler was born on 17 July 1899, in Tennessee, United States, her father, Martin Henry Fowler, was 26 and her mother, Zilpha Basey, was 26. She married William Harvey Smith on 25 April 1920, in Hardin, Tennessee, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 daughters. She lived in Civil District 2, Hardin, Tennessee, United States for about 20 years and Civil District 4, Hardin, Tennessee, United States in 1940. She died on 11 September 1989, in Savannah, Hardin, Tennessee, United States, at the age of 90, and was buried in Savannah, Hardin, Tennessee, United States.