Sylvia Merrill Smith, 90, Fayetteville, passed April 21, 2016.
She was born on July 24, 1925 in Milton, Mass. She was the daughter of Augusta MacMahon Merrill and William McKinley Merrill.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Grinnell Smith, Jr., and her brother, Watergate Special Prosecutor William Hale Merrill.
She attended high school in Birmingham, Mich., and graduated from high school in Milton, Mass. She attended the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va., and Tulane University, where she met and married Smith in New Orleans in 1946. She was an active member of Fayette Presbyterian Church, and a competitive bridge player right up until her death. She enjoyed her membership in PEO, where she was a treasurer and a chapter president in various cities. She was also an avid golfer, treasurer of the PTA, and a competitive barbershop quartet singer in Sweet Adelines in Nashville, Tenn., and Ft. Myers, Fla.
She is survived by her half-brother, Dr. Joseph Merrill of Grand Junction, Colo., her son, Stephen Merrill Smith, of New York, N.Y., her daughter, Carolyn Jean Smoak of Atlanta, Ga., her grandchildren, Derek A. Smoak (Michelle), Daniel L. Smoak (Deanna), and Dana Smoak McKinley (Michael), and 11 great grandchildren. A service at Fayette Presbyterian Church will be held at 10 a.m. on May 14, 2016.
Please make memorial donations to PEO (a philanthropic organization for women’s education, scholarships and grants) Chapter BA, c/o Ginger Worley, 225 Butterfield Lane, Fayetteville, Ga., 30214.
