Theresa Smith

Theresa Ann Smith, born in Binghamton, New York, on November 22, 1942, stepped into the presence of our Lord and Savior on Sunday, June 25, 2023.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Harold Smith, her sister Joyce Gyles, her brothers, Wallace, Richard and Raymond George, and her parents, Madge Kishpaugh and Clinton L. Benjamin.

She is survived by her siblings; her sister Joan (Dennis), and brothers Edmund Glenn (Charlotte) and Clinton Robert (Mary). Her children; Annette Suzanne (Ron), Loretta Jean, Yvonne Lorraine, and Janice Lee (Jeff). Theresa is also survived by her grandchildren, Leann (James), Lisa Maria (Matt), Ashley Nicole (Andrew), Bradford Ryan McCloskey, Nicole Lynn Clark, and Helen Elizabeth Rigolo. Theresa is survived by her great-grandchildren; Lillian Claire, Antonio, Loucinda, Michael, Chris, Daniel, Angelina, Stephanie, Trenton and Nathan, as well as 5 great-great grandchildren; Levi, Ashton, Charlie, Tyler and Orion. Theresa is also survived by several nieces and nephews.

Theresa entered this world as Theresa Ann Benjamin on November 22,1942. She was the 8th child of 8. And she was a preemie in a time when preemies didn’t have a high survival rate. Due to this, Theresa overcame several health issues as a child. Amongst those illnesses were most notably Rheumatic Fever and Scrofula (a form of tuberculosis).

When Theresa was 17, she married Lamont Godfrey in 1959 and had two daughters, Annette Schaefer (nee Godfrey) and Loretta Halford (nee Godfrey). Theresa was divorced from Lamont in 1964.

Theresa came to Alabama from New York because her fiancé, Harold Smith, had been transferred from Endicott, NY to Huntsville, AL with IBM in 1964. Theresa and Harold Smith were married August 7, 1964. They had two daughters, Yvonne Rigolo (nee Smith) and Janice Clark (nee Smith). The family later moved to Texas, to Cedar Park in 1977, when the division of IBM that Harold was involved in, shut down at the end of the Apollo era.

Theresa strongly valued education. Even though she dropped out of school at 10th grade, Theresa studied hard and got her GED from the University of Alabama at Huntsville in 1972. From 1980-82, Theresa owned a cake decorating business called Terry’s Cakes. She made all kinds of cakes including wedding cakes. She and her daughters, Yvonne and Janice, all attended the Jackie Nell Secretarial School in Austin at the same time in 1985, and graduated with Certificates of Completion.

Theresa enjoyed a wide array of activities both with her family and on her own. Theresa helped her husband, Harold, in making model airplanes and she flew a couple of them herself. She was an avid bowler and was on several leagues with her husband, children and friends. She loved to fish and had been fishing most of her life. This was an activity that she and her husband, Harold, enjoyed sharing with their daughters, and it brought her great enjoyment, up to very close to her death, as she would go fishing with her daughter Yvonne and Yvonne’s fiancé Jim in a local pond and at the Blue Hole Park in Georgetown, TX.

Other activities the she enjoyed were related to arts and crafts. As a young girl, Theresa loved to sketch. This continued as she became an adult and that talent was passed along to her all of her children. She loved quilting, crocheting, knitting, and making jewelry and ornaments. When Bob Ross was very popular on PBS, Theresa and her daughter Janice painted several pictures using his techniques. Theresa was an avid reader. This was yet another trait that she passed along to her daughters.

Theresa was a born-again Christian lady. She was baptized later in life, and following that, became quite active in her local church (Victory Baptist Church in Cedar Park, TX). She loved helping out in the nursery, in VBS, AWANA, and had loads of fun with the ladies’ ministries. Even though Theresa would say that she couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, she sang as an alto in the church choir for a few years until the COPD made that hard to do.

Another of Theresa’s many activities including belonging to the Red Hat group in Cedar Park. Theresa was able to enjoy going on a cruise with that organization in the early 2000’s…one of her “bucket list” items.

No matter where she was, Theresa always found a way to make friends and have fun. In the last days of her life, Theresa was surrounded by family and friends. Her passing will leave a void in many people’s lives; but the knowledge that Theresa is no longer suffering from any illness, and is in the presence of Christ, gives solace and comfort to those of us left behind. One thing that Theresa would ask, as she became more fragile, was “Is there any I can do to help?” and lately, the response would be, “sure, you can do an Irish Jig!” She is doing that now with no problem!

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Friday, July 7, 2023 at Cook-Walden Chapel of the Hills Funeral Home, 9700 Anderson Mill Road, Austin, Texas 78750. The funeral service will begin at 1:00 p.m., Saturday, July 8, 2023 at Victory Baptist Church, 1775 E. Whitestone, Cedar Park, TX 78613 followed by a graveside service at Cedar Park Cemetery, 101 South Bell Blvd., Cedar Park, TX 78613.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldenchapelofthehills.com for the Smith family.