Alice R Smith

Alice was born Alice Rosena Phipps along with her twin (Altha) Susan to (Alice) Rose(na) (Fraser) and Frank William (Wetzel) Phipps on November 21, 1928. The twins joined an older sister, Mary (Huber). Alice spent many formative years moving around as a Navy brat. Seattle was their main base. (“We moved into the same house (in Seattle) three times.”) The family was slated to be in Pearl Harbor in 1941, but due to the cost of moving the family, they were sent to Adak, Alaska instead. Adak was very remote but Alice spent many enjoyable hours beachcombing there.

Alice met Wayne M. Smith when the University District churches in Seattle combined young adult programs. They married in May 1957 and went on to have five daughters. Alice would quip, “First we couldn’t get it started, then we couldn’t get it stopped.” Raising her daughters, Alice would focus on fun, “I taught you to play – not to work.” She would say.

After Wayne’s passing in 1987, she indulged in her passion for travel by taking cruises with her sister Sue Cone. She had many musical interests including, Opera, Organ music, and Bluegrass. Alice also had many creative hobbies; her main one being sewing. She practically never bought an outfit ready-to-wear, preferring to alter, re-design, or add her own flare. She maintained a gloriously colorful wardrobe. Her diverse interests and her ability to see intrinsic value, perhaps led to her tendency to keep too many things. As Alice would say, “Sigh.”

A short list of Alice’s adventures includes: riding in the Good Year blimp, being a guest conductor on a San Francisco street car, singing at a choir festival in Italy, visiting the Taj Mahal, cruising the inside passage and the Panama Canal. In her 70s, she traveled to Africa where she danced with the Maasai and saw gorillas in the wild. She was passionate about 6-pointed snowflakes and printed flyers with her technique. To the great embarrassment of her children, she would pass these out to any storefronts that had 4-pointed ones. She really enjoyed playing “Snowflake Queen” at the toy store owned by her daughter, Frances.

She spent her final years in an Adult Family Home where she was the Alice #1. She passed peacefully on April 19, 2024, after achieving her goal of making it to 95. Alice is survived by her daughters, Frances May Finfrock, Caroline Susan Smith Campbell, Janet Smith, Barbara Wecker, and Joan Smith, and by grandchildren Laurel Howard (Nathan), Raleigh Campbell, and Savannah Campbell (David Harris), great-grandchildren (Astrid Howard, Orlan Howard, Jamie Harris, and Cassian Harris), nieces, nephews, and numerous friends.