Irma Dora Smith (nee Martinez) passed away peacefully at home on July 11, 2023 surrounded by family, and her faithful cocker spaniel, Isabella. She was 94 years old. Irma was born in 1929 in Los Ojuelos, TX, an historical family ranch in south Texas. Her parents were Nidia (nee Laurel) and Agapito Guadalupe Martinez. She was predeceased in death by her parents, her husband of 52 years, Lowell Ralph Smith, her daughter Diana Marie Nelson, her brother, Guadalupe Agapito Martinez, and her sister, Maria Olga Kelly. Irma grew up in Los Ojuelos, Laredo, and San Antonio, Texas. She graduated from Louis W. Fox Technical High School in San Antonio in 1947. After school she worked at the military base. She met her husband in San Antonio, where he was stationed at one of the Air Force Bases. They married in 1953 and immediately moved back to Seattle, his home town. Once in Seattle, they started a family, raising two daughters. Irma first worked downtown as an accountant before securing an accountant position at Lake City Auto Parts, where she spent the next almost 40 years before retiring. She then moved to Portland in 2014 to live with her daughter, Barbara Karen Swensen. Irma lived a long and well traveled life. She loved a good joke and was quick to laugh. She was generous and giving--opening her home to family and friends. She enjoyed a night out at the opera, ballet, or a literary reading with friends and family and loved wearing the formal attire that went with such events. She always had a story to tell about her time growing up in South Texas. She was so loved by all and will be forever missed. She is survived by her daughter, Barbara, her sister-in-law, Carolyn Belfield, her borther-in-law, Edward J. Kelly, grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews.
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