Ellen (Smith) Smith

Flora Ellen Smith, “Ellen”, passed away on Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at the Hospice Inpatient Care Center in Pasadena, MD.  She was 73 years old. 

Ellen Smith was born in Tazewell, TN on September 16, 1942 and was the daughter of the late Cecilia Irene (nee McAnally) Smith and Albert Benton Smith.  Ellen and her two sisters, Blanche G. Richardson and Elizabeth J. Thompson spent their youth in Tennessee, but moved to Riverdale, MD in the late 1950’s.  Ellen graduated from Northwestern High School in Hyattsville, MD in 1960.  She married Donald Ray Smith in Alexandria, VA in 1965.  Ellen and Donald had two children, Hillary Jane Smith and Jessica Smith Knoll, and resided in Washington, DC.  In addition to being a home maker and business assistant for her husband’s newspaper, Ellen worked as a real-estate agent, and had a passion for restoring Victorian homes to their former glory.  She and her husband, Donald Smith, were part of a small group of residents that pioneered the rejuvenation of the Logan Circle neighborhood in Washington, D.C.  She was a member of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where she also served the elderly and poor through Meals On Wheels and other volunteer activities.  Ellen remarried CAPT H. C. Lawrence Smith, USN (Ret.), and moved to Yokosuka, Japan as a Commanding Officer’s wife for 3 years.  Later they moved to Norfolk, VA, where they lived for 15 years.  Since CAPT Smith’s passing away in 2014, Ellen has lived near her daughters in the DC metro area.

  Ellen is survived by her devoted daughters, Hillary Jane Smith, Jessica Smith Knoll and Jamie Wiles Bacon; her former spouses, Donald Smith and James Wiles; and her sister, Elizabeth J. Thompson.  Ellen will also be missed deeply by her two grand-children, Sydney Jane Knoll and Samantha Ilene Knoll. She is preceded in death by her beloved husband, CAPT H. C. Lawrence Smith, USN (Ret.) of York, PA; her parents, Cecilia and Albert Smith of Tazewell, TN; and her sisters, Blanche G. Richardson of Gainesville, FL, and Mildred Sue Smith of Tazewell, TN

A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, July 10, 2016 at 2:00 PM at the First Presbyterian Church of Norfolk, 820 Colonial Avenue, Norfolk, VA 23507. Ellen will be interred with her late husband, CAPT Smith, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA at a later date.

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