Margarette M. Smith

Margarette Matthews Smith, age 80, of Winchester, VA, died Saturday, April 14, 2012, at Winchester Medical Center. Mrs. Smith was born in 1931 in South Hill, VA, the daughter of the late Thomas Cowgill Matthews, Jr. and Sue Margarette Matthews. She was a Radiological Technician at Winchester Memorial Hospital and a member of Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church. She was a 1948 graduate of Medical College of Virginia, School of Radiology. In 1954, she and her husband bought a Tastee-Freez franchise and opened a wholesale food distribution in 1967. Her husband, Al Smith, served in the VA General Assembly beginning in 1974, and served for twenty years. She and her husband had the opportunity to travel extensively through the years.

Mrs. Smith served as treasurer, taught Sunday school and VBS, and was choir director at Pleasant Valley United Methodist Church. She served and chaired the VA Commission for the Arts and served on the Frederick County Gypsy Moth committee, the VA YMCA board, and the Frederick County Special Education Advisory committee. She was a member of the Actors Workshop and performed as fairy godmother in Cinderella at the Wayside Theatre. Mrs. Smith was recognized by the Bluemont Concert series for outstanding contributions to the arts in Virginia. A scholarship fund at Lord Fairfax Community College is named in honor of Mrs. Smith and her husband, and her portrait hangs in the Alson H. Smith Library at Shenandoah University.

She married Alson H. Smith, Jr. on February 14, 1953 . Mr. Smith died March 23, 2008.

Surviving is a son, Alson H. “Skip” Smith, III and wife, Valerie, of Winchester, VA, and two granddaughters, Arin H. Smith and Ayla H. Smith.

Mrs. Smith was preceded in death by a son, Rev. David Smith, a sister, Elizabeth Matthews Wells, and a brother, T. C. Matthews, III.

A funeral service will be conducted at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, April 17, at Omps Funeral Home, Amherst Chapel with Rev. Steve Melester officiating. A private interment will be at a later time in Mt. Hebron Cemetery.

Pallbearers will be Jim Emmart, John Hardesty, Dr.Robert Kendall, Lennie Milholland, Nick Parthemos, and Jeff Solenberger.

The family will receive friends at Omps Funeral Home, Amherst Chapel on Monday evening from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M.

Memorial contributions in Mrs. Smith’s honor may be made to the David Smith Foundation, c/o Lord Fairfax Community College, 173 Skirmisher Lane, Middletown, VA 22645-1745 or to the David Smith Scholarship Fund, c/o Shenandoah University, 1460 University Drive, Winchester, VA 22601.

Please view obituaries and tribute wall at www.ompsfuneralhome.com.