Joyce A. Smith's Obituary
Joyce Arlene "Darnell" Smith, Passed away on March 4, 2018 at the age of 90, just shy of 91. She was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Rose and Raymond Snarr and had two sisters, Lorraine and Marcel. She couldn't wait to leave the desert and moved to San Francisco at 20, doing secretarial and occasional modeling work. Later, she met and married the dashing Army officer, Gordon Lyle Smith in Honolulu, Hawaii. After the military, she and Gordon lived first in San Francisco, then Pasadena, California. They finally migrated to the Pacific Northwest where they spent most of their lives in their dream home on American Lake in Lakewood, Washington. They loved each other for their entire lives. For most of her life, Darnell was elegant, chic, and athletic. She was involved with the Tacoma Art Museum, took flying lessons, was an excellent skier, and a champion golfer. Golf was one of the great passions in her life until she was finally unable to walk a course in her 70s. She was also a gourmet cook who had mastered Julia Childs and the art of French cooking. She worked in interior decorating and real estate until her retirement. After Gordon's death in 2008, many of Darnell's neighbors in McLeod Circle, DuPont, Washington and friends, embraced her and looked after her when her daughter in Chicago could not. The extraordinary degree of kindness she received from her friends, neighbors and her niece, Sheri Carbone, is a rare and precious thing seldom seen today. A feisty, outgoing extrovert, Darnell enjoyed the company, and loved them all. She will be missed. Darnell is survived by her daughter, Lisa Lyle Smith, of Chicago, Illinois.
A memorial remembrance and gathering will be held at her home at 1746 McLeod Circle, DuPont, Washington at 1:00 PM, Saturday, March 17, 2018.
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