Susan Flora Smith, age 88, passed away on November 11 ^th ,2017 and is now singing and dancing her way to heaven.  She was born in Auburn, IN on Sept 18, 1929, to Elizabeth and Richard Sharpless.  She moved to Crawfordsville, IN and remained there for most of her life.  She graduated from Crawfordsville High School and from there attended Nursing school in St Louis, MO.  She was very proud of this accomplishment and credits her training there with the success of raising 7 children.  She met Jim Smith, the love of her life when she was 19 years old and they spent their first date shooting cans in a local field.  They fell in love and married on June 24, 1949, and this was the beginning of a lifelong adventure for the two of them.  Raising 6 boys and a girl was challenging enough, but Susie did it with grace and style. She was a never-ending supporter of Jim and their business, H.C. Industries and she traveled to many places with Jim for business. With more than one child with dyslexia in the 1960's, she made sure they got the education they needed by driving them back and forth to Indianapolis every weekday to a special school.  In addition, she attended Herron School of Art and Design where she received a Bachelor of Arts.  Susie was best known for her artistic talent in many different mediums.  She was a painter, sculptor, master seamstress, and restorer of anything old and in need of an update.  She made intricately detailed Christmas stockings and shirts for her grandchildren that would surpass anything you could find in a store.  She also was a lover of small toys and games and there was always a little something sitting on dresser or table to play with.  Susie also had a passion for buying houses and completely gutting them and turning them into showplaces.  Although Jim's pocketbook suffered for this, the outcome was always tasteful, beautiful, and classy….just like Susie.  Her love of art was evident in her collection and appreciation of artists from Montgomery County displayed on many walls in her home.  She was like a true museum docent when you came to visit, explaining in detail about each piece she had and each artist's background.  She was involved in the Crawfordsville Art League, and also parlayed her Art League involvement into restoring the Old Jail Museum and creating an art class basement in the annex there.  Susie also created a paper mache "Wally Wabash" mascot head that is still on display at Wabash to this day.  In 2014 both Jim and Susie received an honorary degree from Wabash College.  When Jim retired, they became avid skiers at the young age of 62 and managed to continue skiing into their early 80's in Europe, Colorado, and Utah, and Vermont. They passed on this love of skiing to their children and grandchildren by hosting family ski trips to Colorado and Vermont with the entire family.  These times were her favorite times since it was very few and far between that all of her children and grandchildren would be in the same place at one time.  Susie also graciously hosted parties and church events at their Lake Holiday home. She had the ability to make entertaining look effortless and her smile and laugh will always be what people remember most about her. Susie is survived by her sister, Sarah Lawrence, St. Charles, IL and her seven children.  Robert (Elizabeth), Ralph, Samuel, David (Norma), Stanley (Andrea), Daniel (Nina) and Susan (Robert) Stackhouse, 13 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Dec 9 ^th , at 1:00 PM at St John's Episcopal Church in Crawfordsville.   No visitation is scheduled.  A reception will follow the service in Whitlock Hall.

In lieu of flowers, Memorials can be sent to the Montgomery County Community Foundation, 119 E Main, Crawfordsville, IN 47933.