Obituary of Frances A Smarth

FRANCES A. SMARTH was married to Eugene Smarth for almost 50 years; widowed in 2002, she remained strong to the very end of her life. She is survived by her daughter Deborah Smarth and son-in-law Ray Kalainikas as well as her sister Anita Amato. She has many nieces and nephews who always reached out and communicated with her regularly. “Aunt Fran” - as she was known - was fully engaged with the family. Her style was “young” right to the end. She was a “career” woman before women were careerists with many years of experience as a manager for an insurance distillery employees union in Englewood, NJ. She worked her way up to manager due to her intelligence and hard work. As she worked each day, she cooperatively ran the household with her husband, always ensuring that everything ran well; groceries, cooking, house cleaning, PTA meetings, volunteering at her daughter’s school, etc.

For many years, she lived in the northern part of the state, but, after Eugene’s death, she moved to her daughter and son-in-law’s home in Monmouth County, with a mother-daughter living arrangement.  She was the most organized person, meticulous in her record-keeping, knowledgeable about lots of issues due to her reading newspapers, magazines routinely and having many discussions and dialogue with her daughter and son-in-law as well as her past co-workers and family members. Upon learning of her death, her retired co-workers and friends were shocked as some of them had spoken with her the week before her death. And, they all commented that she was smart; a great person to work for as their supervisor; and kind.  She was extremely “independent” in all her ways, managing her personal affairs, driving her car for errands, and always trying not to burden her daughter or son-in-law.

Mom received so many charity requests; the mailbox was loaded every day. And, she was generous to contribute to various causes.

She liked eating out and probably missed that the most in recent months due to New Jersey’s COVID “lockdown” policies. She was “hip” with her clothes, jewelry, shoes, etc.  She always wanted to present herself in the best way at home and when she went out. “My mother was strong all these years. She did everything for me throughout her whole life, and always wanted to help at home in whatever way she could. Not waking up to ‘mom’ or saying ‘good night’ to her any more will be hard. I will miss you mom, but, I am glad I had you as long as I did, especially living with me and Ray. We will all miss you.” Greatest “love” forever to a mother that really cared.