Mary C. Smith

Middletown, RI - Mary C. Collins Smith, 77, of 89 Bayview Park, Middletown, formerly of 98 Gibbs Avenue, Newport, RI, died Thursday, February 17, 2011 at Newport Hospital, Newport, RI surrounded by her loving family. Born in Newport, RI on June 4, 1933, she was the daughter of the late Denis and Bridget Murphy Collins.Mrs. Smith attended St. Josephs grammar school and was a 1951 graduate of St. Catherines Academy where she was a member of the basketball team that won their league championship. She worked at New England Telephone from the 1952 until 1957 when she started her family. She was later employed as a switchboard operator at the Newport Hospital from 1978 until her retirement in the 1990s. Mrs. Smith was a communicant of St. Josephs Church. Mary spent her free time reading and doing crossword puzzles, she loved animals and cooking. Mary was a very, kind and fun loving person, with a great sense of humor and whose door was always open to all. A group of her high school friends kept in close contact over the years and called themselves the Snowflake Club. The quote Humor is the Harmony of the Heart was Marys high school yearbook quote, and remained her personal philosophy throughout her life. She is survived by her children, Karen Doyle and her husband John Doyle, Jr. of Newport, RI, Kevin Smith of Middletown, RI, Patricia Brown and her husband Robert of Newport, RI, Nancy Smith and her husband Paul Gyzer of Deerfield Beach, FL, Christopher Smith of Middletown, RI, and Kerry Murphy and her husband Paul of Newport, RI, her grandchildren, John F. Doyle III and his wife Moon, Patrick S. Doyle, Kristen M. Hurd and her husband Ben, Richard J. Doyle, Kasey M. Smith, Konnor M. Smith, Marlee J. Brown, Morgan E. Brown, Zachary Bradshaw, Sarah A. Smith, Collin J. Smith, Riley E. Murphy, and Emily A. Murphy, eight great grandchildren, and her friend and former husband Richard J. Smith of Middletown, RI. She was the sister of the late James P. Collins and mother of the late Richard James Smith, Jr. Calling hours will be held on Monday, February 21, 2011, from 4-8PM in the Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Broadway, Newport.Her funeral will be held on Tuesday, February 22, at 8:00 am from the Memorial Funeral Home, 375 Broadway, Newport, with a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:00 am in St. Josephs Church, Broadway and Mann Avenue, Newport. Burial will be in St. Columbas Cemetery in Middletown. Donations in her memory may be made to the Robert Potter League for Animals, PO Box 412, Newport, RI 02840.