Auburn, ME. She was 92, and will be deeply missed by her daughters, siblings,
sons-in-law, granddaughter and the numerous friends she made over the years. She was
born on April 28, 1927 in Paris, France to Pierpont Adams and Dorothy Blake Adams,
two Jazz Age rovers. She grew up in New York City, in what was then commonly called
Yorkville, near the East River. She was educated at Bryn Mawr College and then
returned to France after the war to study at the Sorbonne. In 1953 she married Henry J.
Smith, of New Jersey, and they moved eventually to the Congo, where they lived for five
years. After they left Africa they moved to Copenhagen, Denmark and then to London,
returning to New York in the mid-60s. She worked as a docent at the New York Public
Library and the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, and researched and wrote an
extensive history of her Maine ancestors. Toward the end of their lives, they moved to
Boston, and after the death of her husband, Judith Smith then relocated to Auburn, ME.,
to live near her younger daughter.
Her last years were made possible, and much more agreeable, by the able and
compassionate care of women working for Helping Hands, and, at the very end, by the
empathetic staff of Androscoggin Hospice. Judy Smith had a wide variety of interests,
among them the arts, languages, literature, history, gardens and not least, the Red Sox,
the Bruins and the English Premier League. (Patriots? No, thanks.) She could talk soccer
knowledgeably with any cab driver, anywhere in the world. She loved dogs as much as
she loved humans, maybe more.
She was noted for her kindness, her dignity, her dry humor and her powers of
observation. Judy Smith was one of those rare persons who was liked and admired by all,
no matter how brief the encounter, and she set a high standard. We know that she is sorry
for many reasons to miss the 2020 presidential election but maybe there’s a paper ballot
waiting for her in the afterlife. We will miss her for the rest of our lives.
Her ashes will be buried in the spring near her younger brother, Sam Adams, who
predeceased her and is buried in Strafford, VT. Judy Smith is survived by her daughters
Abigail Porter of Lewiston, ME., and Nicola Smith of Tunbridge, VT, her sons-in-law
Jim Porter and Geoff Hansen and her granddaughter Emma Hansen. Any contributions in
her name may be directed to: Annual Giving, Androscoggin Home Care and Hospice,
androscoggin.org/get-involved/ways-to-give ) or the Lewiston/Auburn Salvation Army
( nne.salvationarmy.org/lewiston-me/your-help ).
