Carmella "Sue" Smith

Carmella Sue Terranova Eisenhower Smith was tenacious. She was driven, creativeand nothing short of a go-getter. She was a hard worker in everything she devoted her time to. She did not stop until she fell asleep at nightusually on the couch as the TV carried on. At any meal, she was the last one to sit down, and the first to carry her plate to the sink and begin the clean up. From the time she was small, she loved to dance and singand she enjoyed those gifts throughout her life. Carmella was the first born of Concetta and Salvatore Terranova on March 30, 1922 in Easton, Pennsylvania. Being Italian immigrants, her parents depended on Carmelina to be their voice as she translated Italian for them. She had a sister, Rose and two brothers, John and Tony. Life was difficult living through the depression. She told many stories of how her father lost his job and there was no work to be found. To make their hardships even more difficult, they lost their home and lived for a while on charity. Perhaps that was one of the reasons she was driven to work hard and be thrifty. She attended Catholic school until High School, and then went to public school. It was a change, but she acclimated and enjoyed her high school years playing the bugle in a band and discovering her love of singing and dancing. It was at that time, Carmella became Sue. After graduation, she met and married Howard Eisenhower in 1942. After three and a half long years being away in WWIIs European theater, Howard returned home and they began their life together. After the tragic loss of their first child during birth in 1946, both were anxious and thankful to welcome their second child, Judy, into their family in 1947. Then, another, Eileen in 1951. Sue worked in a factory and longed for a career that would give her the opportunity to utilize her creative gifts. In 1959, the family moved to California where she acted upon her longing, and made dreams reality by attending Beauty School and becoming a beautician. It was a vocation she loved for almost 40 years. Another favored pass-time Sue loved was sewing. She would come home from working long hours and still found the time to sew. She created all of her clothes. It was a perfect matchbeing both creative and economical. Sue was recycling long before it was the thing to do. She used and reused plastic and glass containers, plastic bags and anything else that could be reused to conserve both money and help the environment. She was frugal in the use of paper products as well.using too many paper towels or napkins was taboo in her home. You could see her hanging her clothes out to dry, long into her late 80suntil she was too weak to do so any longer. In 1995, after Howards death, she met Arthur Smith. The day they met, her eyes lit up, and it was love. They were married in September 1996 and they began to build a life together. Another tragedy struck Sue 18 months later, when Art was killed in an auto accident which left her a widow again. Perhaps the most important aspect of her life was her faith. She used to reflect upon her young life, and tell stories of how she longed to be a Nun. Her Catholic faith sustained her throughout her life and was a source of comfort. In her later years, you would see her walking to church every morning both for the exercise and to fulfill her commitment of faith daily. She also belonged to a neighborhood Bible study where she learned another aspect of faith and accepted our Lord as her personal Savior. She had another wonderful companion in her life, Jim McDonough. He drove her to church and took her to the movies when she could no longer drive and used her walker to get around. After his death in 2012, Sues health took a downward turn and she decided it was time to go into assisted living. These final years have been difficult as she lost her sense of freedom and decision making. With that, her health also declined. Despite these recent endeavors and obstacles in her day-to-day life, Sue had embarked on a long and beautiful journey. Her earthly life came to an end on June 10th, 2014 when her body could no longer keep up with her tenacious spirit. We will miss you, but you are dancing and singing with the angels now Survived by her children: Judy Maddox and her husband Doug and Eileen Davinroy and her husband Mike. Grandchildren: Gina Smith, Melissa Rowcliffe, Christal Pennington, Shawn Maddox, Kimberlee Scotese, Aaron Maddox and Ryan Mozer. Great-grandchildren: Travis Parker, Travis Rowcliffe, Haleigh Mozer, Julia Scotese, Anna Scotese, Jenna Scotese, Logan Pennington, Stevie Maddox, Hunter Rowcliffe, Evan Pennington, Kole Maddox. Siblings: Sister Rose Salamone and Brother Anthony Terranova. Services will be as follows: Visitation: Thursday, June 19, 2014, 5:00 pm and rosary 7:00 pm at McAulay & Wallace Mortuary, 18311 Lemon Drive, Yorba Linda, CA 92886 (714) 777-2692. Celebration Mass: Friday, June 20, 2014 1:00pm at San Antonio Catholic Church, 5800 E. Santa Ana Canyon Road, Anaheim Hills, CA 92807 (714) 974-1416. Burial: Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, 7845 E Santiago Canyon Rd, Orange, CA, US, 92869 (714) 532-6551. Reception: Friends Christian Church, 5141 Lakeview Ave. Yorba Linda, CA 92886 (714) 777-2875