Dorothy Grace Smith

Dorothy Grace Smith, 100, died in Portland, Oregon of age-related causes on August 20, 2020, after a very long and fulfilling life. She was born in Cadwell, Georgia, the second of two daughters, to Arthur Russell Smith and Grace Thurman Castellaw Smith, and grew up in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. One of her fondest memories of that time was being present at the opening of Gone with the Wind in 1939 as a 19-year-old. Shortly afterward, when on a bus in downtown Atlanta, she met her future mother-in- law, who told her that she wanted to introduce Dorothy Grace to her son, John. It was a match! She married John Andy Smith, Jr., of Talbotton, Georgia, on June 28, 1941 at First Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia. Shortly after their marriage, John went off to World War II, and she moved back home to her parents’ house on Tenth St., where she had her first child. When the war ended, John went to law school at Emory University, and they had a second child. When John was subsequently called back to service in the Army, he joined the JAG Corps and was posted to Ft. Lee, Virginia, where their third child was born. A few years later, John was shipped to Korea. Dorothy Grace, once again, stayed behind in Atlanta with her, now, three children. Upon John’s return to the US, they began their peripatetic married life in the military. Dorothy Grace met these constant moves with grace and humor and found small reasons to be happy everyday wherever she was living. The focus of her life was always her family, friends, and faith.

Dorothy Grace continued this adventurous life until 1966, when John retired from the Army, and they moved back to metropolitan Atlanta. In 1984, a little more than a year after completion of their dream home on a lake, Dorothy Grace was unexpectedly widowed. She chose to remain in her home and in 1987 married her friend and companion, Kimsey Ware Davis. After his death in 2006, she decided to leave Atlanta to be closer to family and, in 2007, she moved to Portland, Oregon to live with her daughter. In 2008, she moved to Mary’s Woods in Lake Oswego, Oregon. In 2017, she moved one final time–to Sylvan Crown Senior Care Home, where she found great warmth and received excellent care from Adela, Simona, and Codrin. Special thanks also go to the many volunteers who visited her from Lake Grove Presbyterian Church, especially Laurel, and to her hospice nurse, Sarah. She is survived by her children: John Andy Smith, III (Kim Latham), Susan Grace Smith Mersereau (Peter), and Arthur Roy Smith (Lisa); her niece, Sara Elizabeth Davis Sigler (Michael); her grandchildren, Barrett Christopher Mersereau (Gulgun), Travis Ryan Mersereau (Carly), Courtney Leigh Mersereau, Nathan Charles Smith, and Jessica Kay Smith Doyle (Ben); and her four great-grandchildren: Max, Eren, Jaxon, and Zoe. She was predeceased by both husbands and her only sister, Evelyn Winnifred Smith Davis.

A graveside memorial service will be held at a later date at Arlington Memorial Park, Atlanta, Georgia. Any remembrances should be made in her name to the charity of your choice.