Alice M Smith

Alice Murray Smith passed away peacefully on January 31, 2024 with her family by her side after a brief illness. She was 93. Alice was born in Buffalo, New York to parents Alice Emma Bennett Murray, MD, and Robert Arthur Murray, DDS.

Alice was the second of two children and was a bright spot in the lives of her nuclear family, splitting time between Buffalo and Point Abino, Ontario, Canada. Alice enjoyed a wonderful childhood of family, friends and school, and excelled at field hockey, ice skating, sailing and other activities. She attended The Buffalo Seminary and she then went on to Smith College where she earned her AB in mathematics. She worked briefly as a civilian contractor (mathematician) for the U. S. Army at White Sands Proving Ground in New Mexico. It was there that she met her husband of 37 years and the father of her three children, Robert C. Smith, now deceased.

Alice had an adventurous soul and had many interests. She was an ardent conservative and American patriot with a deep commitment to her ideals. Earlier in her life she supported the Republican Party, serving as a precinct committeeperson in virtually every precinct in which she lived. She worked hard as a volunteer on Barry Goldwater’s unsuccessful run for U. S. President. She valued honesty, loyalty, integrity and selflessness, and taught her family by example to embrace those values as well as to be independent in thought and action. She sought to instill in her children a strong sense of Christian morality.

She was an avid skier and tennis player until her knees could no longer take the rigors of those sports. She also enjoyed music, singing, and raising kitties. She was a good cook and took pride in broadening her family’s palates and appreciation of food, exposing them to different and interesting cuisine from around the world. She made friends easily and had many long-standing and dear friends in the Phoenix area as well as around the world. For the last three decades of her life, she enjoyed hosting a festive and memorable annual picnic at the family cabin near Flagstaff, Arizona.

She was fond of travel and visited many countries, but her favorite was France. She had many friends there and studied the French language with various groups in the Phoenix area.

She was a sustaining member of the Junior League of Phoenix as well as many other organizations.

Alice was predeceased by her parents and her older brother Robert A. Murray. She is survived by her three sons, William Stewart Smith (Carolynne Banner) of Victoria, B. C., Canada, Peter Crellin Smith (significant other Debra Kruger) of Phoenix, Arizona, and Edward Bennett Smith (Mary Lou Fairweather) of Carmichael, California. She is also survived by seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

The family suggests that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Delightful Days Cat Sanctuary @ Enchanted Crystals which is where her two beloved cats, Chloe and Charlie, were welcomed and subsequently referred to a foster home where they could remain together.