Dorothea Smith

Dot Smith passed peacefully on the morning of October 27, 2014, at the age of 88, at the Johnson City home of her youngest daughter, Teresa Drone, where she had been receiving hospice care. Dot was a stunningly beautiful and vibrant lady, admired and loved by all who knew her. Dot was born on August 14, 1926, and raised in the New York City suburb of Ardsley, NY, by her parents Alice (Fisher) and Christian Frischmann. After high school and the end of World War II, Dot began work as a secretary with the New York Central Railroad in New York City where she met and later married a returning Marine named George Smith. She and George raised a family of five children in the Hudson River hamlet of Montrose, NY, in a tiny ranch house within an idyllic post-war tract development known as Meadow Road. In the early 1970s, the Smiths moved to the Albany suburb of Colonie where Dot resumed her secretarial career in the principals office of the local high school, easily making lifelong friends and charming the students with her kindness and humor. In the mid-80s, Dot and George retired, first to Boynton Beach, FL, where Dot repeatedly won the womens golf championship at the Leisureville Golf Club, and then to Johnson City where they enjoyed the close proximity to their daughter Terry and her family. George passed in 2008 at age 83. Dot leaves behind her 5 children, Tom and his wife Louise of Rochester, NY; Maryalice Rheams of Ashburn, VA; Michael of Pleasant Hill, CA; Chris and his wife Pattie of Fairfax, VA; and Terry Drone and her husband Greg. She will be lovingly remembered by her 9 grandchildren, Alison Shields and husband Bill, Nora Graham-Smith, Josh Smith, Matt Smith and wife Katie, Kaitlin Woosley and husband John, Martin Drone and wife Lindsay, Timothy and Caroline Drone, her great grandchild, Georgia Shields, as well as countless good friends in each community where she lived. Dot was a devout Catholic who faithfully attended Mass and enjoyed her service as a volunteer worker in her parishes, including St. Marys in Johnson City. A funeral Mass will be held at St. Marys Church in Johnson City on Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, friends may remember Dot by donating to the St. Vincent DePaul Society, c/o St. Marys Church, 2211 E Lakeview Dr. Johnson City, TN 37601.