Katrina Ann Smith's Obituary
Katrina Ann Smith (Heard), often lovingly referred to as Trina, or We, was born on January 25, 1960 in Camden, Arkansas to Frank Heard Jr. and Claudie Mae Heard. She passed away on May 17, 2009, surrounded by her loving family. She was baptized at an early age at Holy Family Catholic church in Natchez, Mississippi. The daughter of a military man, Katrina and her family lived in many places growing up, including Washington, Arkansas, Utah, and Taipei, Taiwan. In 1970, Trina moved with her family to Tacoma, Washington, where she lived the rest of her life. Always up to a challenge, Trina was the first female member of Lincoln High School's cross country track team. She graduated from Lincoln in 1978. She was also interested in martial arts. Under the tutelage of Sense Ed Lewis, Katrina aspired to and achieved the level of black belt and participated in many tournaments. She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University in 1982. On June 11, 1983, she married the love of her life, her high school sweetheart, Tony D. Smith. They were blessed with 2 wonderful children, Tahjiere Rashon (Brandon) and Travonte DeMarco (Lil Trina) and two beautiful grandchildren Gia Iman and Brandon Jr. They built a life of love, happiness, and adventure that lasted over 27 years. Trina worked for many years as a financial analyst for the city of Tacoma, and later also ventured out to pursue her interest in real estate, becoming a real estate agent as well. She had an extreme passion for volunteering her time and a gift for always finding the good in people. She volunteered tirelessly with the Tacoma Special Olympics. She would strike up conversations with total strangers and was genuinely interested in what they had to share. Katrina was an outstanding wife, mother, sister, daughter, daughter-in-law, grandmother, auntie, cousin and friend. She inspired us all with big dreams and going after all of them. She loved her family unconditionally and taught us all how to be charitable. She rose to the occasion for every challenge she encountered and was and is the epitome of a woman with a great vision and a strong character. Her personal and work ethics were unparalleled and her giving nature helped people to survive, succeed and thrive. We thank her for her example of strength and courage. Katrina was a beloved wife to Tony, an outstanding mother to Tahjiere and Travonte, an exceptional daughter to Frank and Claudie Heard, an extraordinary sister to Sonya (Toby), Ella, Francesca and her only brother Frank (Tracie). She was also a great daughter-in-law to Katie and John Smith and a wonderful sister-in-law to John, Frankie and Janice. Katrina, our angel, was also an amazing aunt to a myriad of nieces and nephews including: Sonie, Keshia, Devin, Jasmine, Sienna, Franky, Julian, Dayshawn, Tina, Kira, Tiana, John, Alvin, Ciara, Cydney, Katlyne, Marcus, Janiesa, and Claudia. Although Katrina's life was cut short, she had great accomplishments throughout her forty nine years and lived her life to the fullest. She will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by her family and friends. Services will be held on Friday, May 22, 2009, at 3 pm in the Valley Chapel at Mountain View Funeral Home. Mountain View is located at: 4100 Steilacoom Blvd SW, Lakewood, WA 98499.
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