Marguerite B Smith

Born:  November 10, 1922

Marguerite was born in Jacksonville, FL but her family moved to Kissimmee, where her brother Henry Louis Jr was born, and then they all moved to Orlando where she attended first grade at the Delaney School.  The family eventually settled in Port Tampa where she grew up attending the Westshore School and then graduating from Plant High School.  Her first job was at the J.C. Penny department store in Tampa.  She met and married Melford Wayne Smith in 1948 and the couple lived in Atlanta, Georgia for many years.  Wayne Smith (as he was known) was in the Air Force during both WWII and the Korean War. 

After leaving the military, they purchased a house in College Park in 1953 where they lived for 46 years and were members of the College Park Baptist Church as well as many fraternal organizations in the community.  In 1999 they sold their house and moved to a condo on Lake Underhill Rd. 

Marguerite was inducted into Eastern Star at 20 and remained active with them until her death.  She has the Grand Cross of Color in the Order for Rainbow for Girls.  She served as secretary of Mokanna Lodge Chapter 283 O.E.S. for 20 years and then became a member of the Pioneer Chapter 99.  When Wayne joined the Shriners Marguerite became involved as well.  She is a Past Queen of the Athaliah Temple and served as a Supreme Officer in the Supreme Temple of Daughters of the Nile in 2006.  She was particularly proud of her work with the Shriners Hospital for Children, where, among other things, she cut hundreds of patterns for clothes for the babies.  Marguerite was also a valued volunteer for the Orange County Sheriff's Office assisting with their seniors program and went into the office at least twice a week for 16 years. 

She gave so much to the community, to her friends and to family.  There was, and is, no one quite like Marguerite.