Christine Elizabeth Smith

Christine Elizabeth Zemla lost her battle to ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) in Richmond, Va. on April 10, 2020 while surrounded by her family and friends. She had an exciting life and lived in many exotic places. This matriarch leaves behind a legacy of beautiful memories of family gatherings, providing a safe haven where time slows down, belly laughs, her green thumb, passion and compassion for animals and people, and resiliency and an iron will.

Christine was born in Akron, Ohio on February 2, 1947. She was the daughter of Joseph Zemla and Betty Wilhelm, and younger sister to Judy Zemla. At a very early age, her family moved to Indonesia where her dad worked for Goodyear International. Her favorite place on the planet was Bogor, Indonesia. At the age of 9, she contracted polio while attending a pool birthday party. She left India, all by herself, and travelled back to the U.S. (Florida) to receive physical therapy. She rejoined her family two years later in Indonesia. At the start of high school, her family moved to India and she found her sport - swimming. She attended the American Embassy School in New Delhi. When she was a sophomore in high school, just 16 years old, she met the love of her life, her future husband, Thomas A. Smith.

After high school, she returned back to the US and attended the University of Akron. In her 3rd year of college (1968), she married her high school sweetheart, and joined him at Virginia Tech so he could finish his final year of school. They then moved to the University of Illinois, so Tom could earn his graduate degree in Physics. In 1972, they moved to Richmond, Va., so Tom could attend medical school.

Chris worked multiple jobs to help support her husband and herself all through their journey through undergraduate, graduate school, medical school, and residency. In 1978, they started a family and had one little girl (Kelly). Soon after, Chris began working at her favorite place of employment, Catherine’s Accessories as an accountant. In 1987 she retired, and became a full-time mom and animal advocate.

In 1998 after 32 years of marriage, she left Richmond and moved to Clermont, FL to take care of her mom. She thrived in Florida exercising her green thumb and providing a loving place for her family to visit, until January 2019. On her birthday in 2019, she moved into Dogwood Terrace independent living in Richmond, Va. and lived out the last of her days surrounded by family and friends as she fought harder than anyone I have ever met against ALS.

She is survived by her daughter, Kelly Smith; grandchildren, Madelyn & Chase; niece, Dawn Miller; and nephews, Randy Collin and Brett Morgan. Services will be private. In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider donating to the ALS Society at http://web.alsa.org/site/TR/PersonalFund/NationalOffice?px=1875896&pg=personal&fr_id=10054 to help find a cure. Please help us ensure that others do not suffer and their lives are not cut short because of this disease. Thank you!