Kathleen Ann Smith

Born: 9/21/1952
Died: 6/19/2012

Kathleen Ann Smith, age 59, of New Castle, DE passed away on Tuesday, June 19, 2012.
A native Delawarean, Kathleen was born in Wilmington on September 21, 1952. She attended DeLaWarr High School and later went on to earn her degree in social work from Delaware Technical Community College. As a professional social worker, she was employed in geriatric and rehabilitative healthcare at Arbors in New Castle.
One of Kathleen’s greatest passions throughout her life was child advocacy, particularly helping troubled teens. She took in her first child in the late 1960s and over the years, she offered a home to over 180 children and teenagers who needed her unconditional love and guidance. Kathleen did this on her own for decades, then later worked as a foster parent with Child, Inc. for many years. Kathleen believed that real families are made from the heart and treated all the kids she cared for as if they were her own.
She was preceded in death by her mother, Doris Hollandsworth, and by her father, Kenneth Lemon. She is survived by her beloved husband, Walter Anthony Smith Jr.; son, Walter Anthony Smith III; daughter, Rita M. Gentry; father, William Hollandsworth; brother, Bill Hollandsworth; sister, Veronica Logan; nieces, Laura Christine Schenck and Diana Nicole Roberts; brother, Robert Alexander; and countless grateful people whose lives she touched in her lifetime.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 24, 2012, at the Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Home, 1000 N. DuPont Parkway, New Castle, where visitation will begin at 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the American Lung Association, 630 Churchmans Road, Ste. 202, Newark, DE 19702.