Barbara Rae Avis Smart

Barbara Rae Avis Smart passed away peacefully on Sunday October 20, with family at her side. She was born December 12, 1932 in Roanoke, VA, the daughter of Lois Bond Avis Starke and Martin Luther (Skip) Avis, both departed. Barbara is survived by her husband of 53 years, Jerry Ross Smart of Orlando, and her daughters Linda Lani Kress, Bonnie Susanne Salem, Jeri Carolynn Mooney, Kristie Marie Viehman and Sandra Leigh Smart Payne. She is also survived by her 5 sons-in-law, 9 grandchildren, 2 great grandsons, and many valued friends and colleagues. A Realtor in the Orlando area for 42 years, Barbara was a career agent for several Realtors until her retirement. Her family and friends will remember her as a funny, creative, beautiful, and graceful woman who excelled as an ad hoc hula instructor, swing dancing “champion”, artist, ballet costume seamstress, stylish bowler, sly Bridge partner, dance and music lesson chauffer, and fashionably late. She was active in the Women’s Council of Realtors, the Junior Women’s Club of Orlando and Beta Sigma Phi and served as a PTA president, Girl Scout, and Brownie leader. She loved warm sandy beaches, especially any place that reminded her of Hawaii, where she lived for several years. We will miss her laugh, watching her dance with Dad in the kitchen, her ability to fall asleep anywhere/anytime, and her potato salad.
We bid Barbara, a beloved daughter, cherished wife, and devoted mother, a fond Aloha and will honor her memory with love, laughter, dance, song, and tears: a sea of tears.
A graveside service for family and friends will be held at 12:00 noon at Glen Haven Memorial Gardens in Winter Park, Florida on Wednesday, October 23. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.Alz.org or to Hospice of the Comforter at www.hospiceofthecomforter.org.

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