Born in 1937 to Aubrey Kennedy and Mozelle (Kitchings) Kennedy, who preceded her in death, Audrey grew up in Rocky Mount, NC, and was a 1955 graduate of Rocky Mount High School. Her childhood was shared with her beloved brother Hugh Houston, who preceded her in death when she was just nineteen. The maternal side of Audrey’s family has an extensive history in Beaufort, SC, and she was very involved with that extended family, which consisted of one uncle and three aunts, all of whom have passed. Audrey was particularly fond of one aunt – Sallie Mae Hollins – who served as her surrogate mother, after her own mother departed the Earth when Audrey was a teenager.
Audrey was adored by her parents, her brother, and her late husband, Dr. K. Wayne Smith, who was CEO Emeritus at OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, based in Columbus, Ohio) as well as a Life Trustee and former chairman of the board of Wake Forest University – serving in the chairman’s role in 2006-2007.
Audrey was also held in the greatest esteem and loved as only a son can love a mother, by her only child – Stuart Wayne Smith. The special relationship they had until her dying breath was forged over 58 years, beginning after Audrey gave birth to Stuart in West Point Army Hospital at the United States Military Academy, where her husband Wayne was a professor from 1963-1967.
The majority of her life was spent supporting her husband in every way and serving as a stay-at-home Mom for her son, where she was both mentor, dearest friend, and guiding light. According to her son Stuart, “Audrey was my greatest gift. She was my Mom, my friend, and my greatest love. She was my everything.”
By way of her husband, who spent his first twenty years trying to get out of Newton, and the next forty years trying to get back, Newton became Audrey’s final move and final home in 1998. It is now her final resting place and she will be interred and reunited with her husband in the “Chapel” mausoleum on the grounds of Catawba Memorial Park.
Audrey also leaves behind her sister-in-law Anne Hoyle, brother-in-law Steve Hoyle, nephew Jim Hipp and his wife Lois, niece Kimberly Hipp, as well as innumerable friends.
