Eleanor Ruth Smith

On the morning of Wednesday, July 12, 2023, Eleanor “Ellie” Ruth Smith passed away peacefully due to natural causes. She was in her home at Van Nuys, CA, cared for and attended by loved ones and a hospice team. She was 91 years old.

Ellie was born on a sunny Saturday in May 1932 in Taunton, Massachusetts, to father Charles Tranter and mother Gertrude (Dean) Tranter. Following the deaths of her parents at an early age, she relocated to Danville, Illinois in 1951 at the age of 19. There she met her husband, Harry Smith, married him in October 1953 (age 21) and gave birth to their child, Mark Smith, in May 1954 (age 22). She relocated again, to Los Angeles, California this time, in 1957 (age 25), living at various addresses before finally settling at Van Nuys, California in 1972 (Age 40), where she remained the rest of her life.

She worked within the accounting field immediately upon her arrival in California in 1957, achieving recognition and promotion such that upon her retirement in 2001 after 44 years (from the same company she started with in 1957), she was a vice president of accounting and a listed and noteworthy accounting executive nation-wide, with memberships in the American Society of Women Accountants and the National Association of Female Accounting Executives.

Despite her success, Ellie remained a woman in touch with her values of family and friends. She was always available to socialize or to go to lunch or to just talk. She never turned away company and was always there for you when you needed, even when you didn’t know you needed her to be there. If it was your first time at the party, she went out of her way to be the first person to greet you. She was a rock and an anchor for her family. You could confide in her without hestitation because you knew she knew how to keep a secret. She stayed strong, confident and independent but was always willing to give hours long back scratches, go on lunches with her favorite nieces or talk to far away friends as opportunities occurred.

In her free time, Ellie indulged her passions. Although she enjoyed her initial ventures into crafts like needlepoint and knitting, she was eventually captured by her passion to paint. Painting became a major part of her life, attending painting sessions with friends 3 days a week in addition to her daily solo sessions. Many of her projects were claimed by friends or received offers to buy. When she wasn’t painting, Ellie pursued the arts. She participated in opera clubs, regularly attended local dinner playhouses and civic theaters and regularly attended music venues ranging from classical to country to jazz. If she wasn’t being entertained, she was enlightening herself; she was an avid reader. If she had any spare time during the week she’d normally spend it with a book in her hand and a cat on her lap. She filled every minute of her life.

She also indulged her desire to see the world. She travelled to local monuments and state parks within the entire continental United States and Mexico, braved cruises to Alaska and the Baltic Sea, became time-share owners in Hawaii and took vacations in exotic locations like the United Kingdoms, Europe, Australia and Nova Scotia. Ellie’s favorite international trip was her visit to China her brother Charlie and his wife (her “adopted” sister) Rita. In her last decade of life, Ellie ensured she included vacations to Hawaii with her granddaughter Melissa and her great granddaughter Aubrianna.

Ellie is preceded in death by her father Charles, her mother Gertrude, her sister Mildred, her brother Charles, her husband Harry and her grandson Daniel. She is survived by her son Mark, her granddaughter Melissa, her great granddaughter Aubrianna and her great grandson Vincent.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.piercebrothersvalhallamortuary.com for the Smith family.