Audrey B. Smith's Obituary
Audrey B. Smith was born in 1926 in the London suburb of Twickenham, and passed away peacefully with her daughter by her side November 19th, 2015 in Huntersville North Carolina at the age of 89. Daughter of Sir Irving and Florence Gane, she was predeceased by her husband of 52 years, Hugh M. Smith Jr, and eldest son Irving (Wannee). She is survived by her sister Diana in Australia, sons Bruce (Diane) of Aurora CO, Rodney (Dr. Barbara Rien) of Boca Raton FL, and daughter Anne Cooper (Michael) of Cornelius NC, and grandchildren Suzanne, Stephen, Aaron, Cassie, David, Ryan, Bryn, and step-grandson Karl, as well as six great-grandchildren.
Audrey’s teenage years were dominated by the events of World War II, including her marriage to her husband Hugh shortly after the war when he returned to England after serving in Patton’s Army in Europe. Early during the war when she was hospitalized in London the hospital was hit by bombs during the Battle of Britain. Again bombs fell this time on their country home straddling the house with bomb craters. While her father was serving in MI5 the family was notified that food production was a requirement for what had been her father’s horse pastures, so she had to quickly learn farming. As soon as she was old enough, she enlisted in the British Army and served as a driver. Following her marriage to Hugh she could not go to the US with him on the troop transport ship, so she had to fly her first flight ever alone on an Air Force cargo plane that stopped in Iceland and Newfoundland on her way to New York.
She raised her family in Hugh’s hometown of Binghamton, New York and in 1966 moved to the village of Port Crane, where she returned to her farming roots, except this time all the animals had names and never saw the butcher’s knife. A true lover of nature, she was famous for attracting birds of all types to her feeding stations including wild turkeys outside her kitchen window. She once saved a wild deer being pursued by a pack of dogs by putting a dog leash on it and leading it to safety.
Audrey retired from IBM all the while serving in many volunteer organizations helping those less fortunate. After she retired, Hugh and Audrey moved to Boynton Beach Florida in 1993, where they enjoyed living until Hugh became ill. She lovingly attended him at home where he passed away peacefully. She loved to visit the Wakodahatchee Bird Sanctuary near her home and would take her grandchildren there to see the birds. In 2006 she relocated to North Carolina to be near her daughter.
As a full-fledged member of the Greatest Generation, Audrey shared colorful stories of her life with her children and grandchildren and will be sorely missed by all.
The family wishes to thank all the loving caregivers at Summit Place of Mooresville and Autumn Care of Cornelius, and all the doctors and nurses who cared for Audrey over the years. A memorial service will be held in honor of Audrey on December 1st, at 3 pm at Davidson College Presbyterian Church in Davidson, NC and a family reunion is scheduled for June in Binghamton, NY.
James Funeral Home of Huntersville is serving the family. www.jamesfuneralhomeLKN.com
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