Alice Delite Smith

It is with deep love and heavy hearts that we remember Alice Smith, who passed away on Tuesday, November 19, 2024, in her home from metastatic cancer at the age of 78. She was born on September 13, 1946, in Wichita Falls, TX, where she grew up with her brothers and sisters, Helen, Bo, Connie and Charlie.

Alice moved to Austin Texas to attend the University of Texas in the late 1960s, where she met BJ Smith, MD, married and had two daughters, Tonya Strader and Shannan Shaw.

Alice was many things to many people—a devoted mother and sister, a beloved Nana, a caring neighbor, a loyal friend, and a skilled nurse. Her role as a psychiatric nurse was a testament to her empathy and strength, touching countless lives with her compassion and professionalism.

At home, she was a mother who found great satisfaction in raising her two daughters to be independent and caring, instilling in them values of resilience, kindness, and generosity. After raising her daughters, Alice went back to school to become a nurse. She had a rewarding career as a geriatric psychiatric nurse at St. Davids in Austin, TX and Western Psychiatric Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA until she retired in 2011.

She moved to Pittsburgh, PA in 2003 and then Ann Arbor, Michigan in 2011 to be close to her daughters and grandchildren and watch them grow up. She was a talented gardener, who found peace and beauty in nurturing life, creating lush spaces that brought joy to everyone around her. An avid reader, she found pleasure in reading novels, learning about the stock market, investing, home design and cooking. She expressed her love through cooking delicious meals and sharing them with family and friends. She had a unique gift for finding the best deals—no one could hunt down a bargain like she could, and she turned this knack into a delightful art form.

She filled our lives with so much joy and will be missed by her surviving sisters Connie Spratt and Helen Wirth, her children and their spouses, Tonya and Ross Strader and Shannan and John Shaw, her four grandchildren, Ryan and Savannah Strader, and Alex and Asher Shaw.

While her absence leaves an undeniable void, her legacy lives on in the values she instilled, the lives she touched, and the memories we will forever cherish. We will carry her love and her lessons with us always.

Rest peacefully, Mom. You were and will always be deeply loved.