Ann Marie Smith

Ann M. Smith of Walnut Creek, CA passed away with her children at her side on Tuesday, August 15, 2023. Ann was the beloved companion and best friend for 45 years of her husband Richard, and the loving mother of Paul, David, and Caitlyn.

Ann Marie (Semin) Smith was born to Fred A. and Evelyn (Hruska) Semin on June 23, 1943, in Grand Island, NE. She was baptized into the Catholic faith on July 21, 1943. Ann’s formative years were spent in Lincoln and then Brainard, NE, where she lived on the family farm and was active in music, volleyball, and 4H. A high school teacher in Brainard inspired her to a love of science, which became the foundation of her career. She graduated from Brainard High School in 1961, honored as class valedictorian and a National Merit Scholarship finalist.

In the fall of 1961 Ann began her studies at the University of Nebraska, where she met her future husband, Richard P. Smith, on the first day of English class. The couple was married on Dec. 21, 1963. Ann pursued a major in chemistry, earning a BS degree with honors in 1965. She was elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa and was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship for graduate study in biology at Syracuse University, where her work focused on genetics. She was awarded a MS degree in 1969 after completion of her thesis “Some tests of a translational control model for the tryptophan operon of Salmonella typhimurium”.

Ann and Richard and their two small children Paul and David moved to Downers Grove, IL in 1972, when Richard received a position in physics at Argonne National Laboratory (later moving to Fermilab). Ann had no definite career plans until a part-time teaching position at the College of DuPage came open just before the start of the school year. To find candidates, the college went through the roster of the American Association of University Women, of which Ann was a member, calling all those who had master’s degrees in biology. Ann got the job and taught anatomy and physiology there part-time for three years.

A move to nearby Plainfield, IL in 1975 led to a position at Joliet Junior College, the oldest community college in the United States. Ann served as an adjunct instructor for six years before going full-time as a biology professor. While at JJC, she expanded the breadth of the anatomy and physiology course while introducing the use of cadavers into the curriculum, developed a human biology course including topics on evolution and the environment, and developed an online course in medical terminology. Ann also served on JJC’s Distance Education Advisory and Academic Standards Committees and chaired the Assessment Committee, and she was one of the original co-sponsors of the Phi Theta Kappa organization on campus. She was honored to receive the Outstanding Teacher of the Year award in 1991. Ann was proud of her accomplishments, and she found meaning in educating the next generation of nurses and other medical professionals. She found it especially rewarding to work with somewhat older, non-traditional students who were unsure of their abilities, helping them to succeed. After retirement from full-time teaching in 2006, Ann continued her career by developing and teaching online biology courses part-time until 2017.

In 2019, Ann sold the family home in Plainfield and moved to Walnut Creek, CA to be near her children. This enabled her to join them for weekend dinners out, holidays, birthday celebrations, and daughter Caitlyn’s musical performances in San Francisco Symphony, Opera, and Ballet and other regional ensembles.

In addition to her professional life, Ann was active in community affairs and prioritized volunteering at her home parish, St. Mary Immaculate in Plainfield, IL. Her membership in the Plainfield Band Boosters spanned many years during the 1970s, 80s, and 2000s. Ann volunteered for many Christian service ministries as a parishioner at St. Mary’s. She regularly prepared hot meals for the Daybreak Meal ministry to feed the homeless in Joliet, IL and routinely donated to the Christmas Giving Tree program. Ann also provided Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) education to many children throughout her years of volunteer work. She also took joy in being a regular eucharist minister and occasional lector at St. Mary’s.

Ann had a life-long love of music. She began with piano lessons in grade school and pursued flute in high school, continuing to perform as a member of the University of Nebraska Symphonic Band throughout college. Later, her favorite musical events were the many performances in which her children participated - from Illinois Summer Youth Music and All-State events to San Francisco Symphony and Opera performances. She also enjoyed regularly attending concerts by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and productions by the Lyric Opera of Chicago. She especially loved the music of Czech composers, such as Dvořák and Smetana, as Ann’s Czech heritage was an essential part of her identity. It was also important for her to pass this heritage on to her children through the preparation of many traditional Czech foods such as svíčková, houska, and kolaches. A family favorite among these was an heirloom recipe for gingerbread cookies from her great-grandmother, with which Ann won second place in the Chicago Tribune’s annual Christmas cookie contest in 1989. Ann, along with her late husband Richard, loved gardening very much and always looked forward to enjoying the bounty of their home-grown produce every summer. Her love of travel took her to all parts of the United States, Mexico, Canada, England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and the Czech Republic. Ann loved to spend her free time reading, and she enjoyed the friendship of her bridge group in Plainfield.

Ann is survived by her son David F. Smith and his wife Mary Nguyen of Danville, CA; her daughter Caitlyn A. Smith Franklin and her husband Brandon K. Franklin of Berkeley, CA; her daughter-in-law Lisa Judy Smith of Miami, FL; her step-grandson Wade Judy and his wife Abby Judy of Greeley, CO; her first cousins Eric and Alan Bala and their families of Southern California; and numerous loving in-laws, nieces, and nephews. Ann is preceded in death by her parents; her loving husband Richard P. Smith of Plainfield, IL; and her beloved son Paul J. Smith of Miami, FL.

Memorials may be made to Doctors Without Borders, P.O. Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5030 (http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org); or CARE, PO Box 1870, Merrifield, VA 22116-8070 (http://www.care.org).