Jennifer Lynn Smith Kaczor, 51, died at her home in Grand Rapids, Michigan on October 13, 2021, where she spent her final days surrounded by her loving husband, her father and her siblings. A memorial service will be held at Alta Woods United Methodist Church at 11 am, Saturday, October 30, 2021, with visitation beginning at 10 am before the service (masks are suggested but not required).
Jennifer was born July 16, 1970 in Jackson, Mississippi to Layton Jager Smith and the late Margaret Whitfield Smith. She graduated from Jackson Preparatory School where she excelled. She followed a long family tradition by attending Auburn University, where she received her degree in International Business and German, which included a term of living and studying in Germany. She then earned her Juris Doctorate degree from Vanderbilt University in 1995.
Jennifer worked as an assistant United States attorney in Birmingham, Alabama, and most recently in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she was the supervisor of the Financial Litigation Unit for the Western District of Michigan.
She was brilliant, quick-witted, and funny. She was a fast friend, and devoted daughter, sister, and aunt. She loved fine wine and was a voracious reader. And she loved her three cats. Jennifer also enjoyed traveling, having seen much of the United States on vacation trips with her family over the years, including plenty of camping and snow skiing. As to the snow skiing, she was highly skilled, with there being almost no slope she wouldn’t tackle. Like her mother and grandmother before her, she enjoyed curating special plants in her gardens.
In 2017, Jennifer married Dave Kaczor, a federal public defender also working in Grand Rapids. Dave cared for Jennifer through her long struggle with angiosarcoma.
Jennifer was preceded in death by her mother, Margaret Whitfield Smith. She is survived by her husband, Dave Kaczor of Grand Rapids, Michigan, her father, Layton Smith (Pat) of Pearl, Mississippi, brother Jager Smith (Janet) of Brandon, Mississippi, sister Allison Smith Myers (Mike) of Pearl, Mississippi, her five nieces and nephews whom she adored, and her four step-children, and numerous loving friends and relatives.
Donations may be made in her memory to Alta Woods United Methodist Church Memorial Fund, 109 Alta Woods Blvd., Jackson MS 39204, or to Angiosarcoma Awareness, www.cureasc.org.
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