Margaret Ann Smith

Margaret, or “Peg” as she was known to her family and friends, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on December 26, 1932. She was the daughter of Thomas A. and Loretta F. McDermott. After living in Cincinnati through elementary school, she moved to Indianapolis, Indiana for the first couple of years of high school before accompanying her family to Detroit, Michigan when her father was transferred by his employer, the A & P Grocery Stores. After graduating from high school, she attended Mercy College of Detroit, intending to enter the convent. Her plans were changed when she met and later married her husband, Eugene F. Smith, or “Gene,” in November of 1956. After her husband graduated from the University of Detroit and was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, the newlyweds left Detroit and moved first to Wichita, then to MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida. When Gene finished his military service in 1959, the couple returned to Detroit and Gene started a career in business.The next decades were a whirlwind of raising seven children and enjoying a marriage that spanned 54 years. After several job-related moves, Peg and Gene retired to Castle Pines, Colorado in 1996. A few years after her husband died in 2011, Peg moved to Colorado Springs to be near several of her adult children and grandchildren.

Peg is survived by her seven children – Kevin (Emily), Michael (Brenda), Kathy (Greg) Liebscher, Maureen (John) Andrews, Pat, Dan (Jill), and Sean (Kristen). Their care and upbringing was her main occupation. She is also survived by her younger brother, Dr. Edward McDermott of Phoenix, Arizona, and her younger sister, Kathy (Nick) Merucci, of Bradenton, Florida. Her older brother, Thomas McDermott, passed away several years ago. Peg also had 13 grandchildren (Sean, Ryan, Katie, Taylor, Mallory, Declan, Maisy, Megan,Matt, Brendan, Ian, Finn and Dylan) and 7 great-grandchildren (Miles, Erik, Aly, Rob, Kate, Carmen, and Teddy).

Peg had an engaging personality. Even as a young girl, she enjoyed being around family. Her children and grandchildren remember hearing many stories about her weekend outings with her various McDermott and Finan aunts and uncles and cousins in Cincinnati. In Detroit, her circle of friends expanded to include the Johnston and Toal families with whom she enjoyed cherished vacations to Siesta Key well into her eighties. Peg’s Catholic faith was a central part of her life and was the guiding force behind her actions and decisions throughout the years. Peg was an excellent athlete in an era when the opportunity for girls to play sports was limited. For many years she played on women’s softball teams in Detroit and tennis teams in St.Louis and took home numerous trophies. Peg also enjoyed swimming, water-skiing, tennis and weekly bridge games. Through it all, her competitive spirit was legendary, as was her love of ice cream. Both characteristics were passed down to her children and grandchildren. She rarely missed an opportunity to watch their sporting events, musicals, concerts and plays and to celebrate them with ice cream. Peg will be greatly missed but her legacy lives on in her family.