Iris L. Smith

Iris was a native Floridian, born on December 6, 1930 in DeLand, Florida to Major and Mrs. David B. Doty. She was always proud that her Doty lineage traces itself directly back to Edward S. Doty, who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620 and that her great-grandfather, Tobias Self, was the first white child born in Orlando.

Iris was a devoted wife, mother and friend. She enjoyed creating and painting her own designs on ceramics, writing poetry, making exquisite porcelain dolls along with their outfits, caring for her beloved plants, making shell mirrors and taking care of her cats for several years.

She was the quintessential southern belle, beautiful, charming, gracious, witty and funny.

She was the wife of popular Florida author Patrick D. Smith, best known for his novel, A Land Remembered. She met many of his fans (some celebrities in their own right) and even hosted the governor of Florida in her home. She traveled to the Soviet Union with Patrick thanks to the popularity there of his novel, Forever Island.

Other travels took her to Mexico, Europe, California and in 2017 her son and daughter-in-law took her on a cruise to Alaska, a bucket list item which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Iris is survived by daughter Jane, son Rick (Patrick, Jr.), daughter-in-law Kimberly Miller, grandchildren Danny, Kimberly, Matthew, Josh and Alex. She is also survived by 5 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be held at 1:30 PM on March 13 at Brevard Memorial Funeral Home in Cocoa, Florida with a small graveside service held afterward.