Caroline Smith

DENVER — Caroline Smith, 83, died on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 2012, in Denver, Colo.

A memorial service for Caroline Davis Collins Smith will be 10 a.m. Wednesday at Advantage Aurora Chase Chapel, 1095 Havana St., Aurora, Colo., 80010. A second memorial service will be held in Spartanburg, S.C., this spring.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Col. (Dr.) Robert Reed Smith; her parents, her brother Peter Collins, and a son, Peter Collins Smith.

C (as she was affectionately called by her closest friends) or Ooma (as she was called by her grandchildren and great-grandchildren) was born June 16, 1929, to Francis and Frances (Pinky) Collins in Union, S.C. She graduated from Queens College in 1951, with a bachelor’s degree in education and was a fourth-grade teacher for many years. She married Robert Reed Smith on Aug. 29, 1953, in Lumberton, N.C.

The Smith family was transferred around the country and abroad for many years as her husband’s distinguished career in the United States Air Force dictated. The couple retired to Mount Pleasant, S.C., in 1981. Smith then moved to Denver in 1995 to be near her daughter.

She is survived by her son, Robert Reed Smith Jr. of Salem, Mo., and her daughter, Betsy Smith Tribble of Strasburg, Colo.; five grandsons: Robert (Theresa) Reed Smith III, Christopher (Rachel) R. Smith, Michael (Emily) F. Smith, G.C. Tribble and Bobby Tribble; three great-grandchildren, Anson R. Smith, Lyllian J. Smith and Robert R. Smith IV; and several first cousins.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Foundation Fighting Blindness, Foundation Fighting Blindness (P.O. Box for Donations) P.O. Box 17279, Baltimore, Md. 21298-9581. http://www.blindness.org

Paid obituary