Jean Altis Smith, of Leawood, Kansas, also affectionately known as Mom and Nani, went to be with Jesus, her Lord and Savior on November 19, 2022 at the age of 100. She was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 22, 1922.
She is preceded in death by her parents Arthur and Lillian Altis, her husband Robert H. Smith, son Robert Thomas Smith and grandchild Andrew Arenson. She is survived by her daughter Karen Lane (Bush) son Steven A. Smith (Kay), daughter Debbi Smith, daughter Kristin Frisbie (Mark) and her special niece, Sharon Kalfayan (John), 13 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, and a grand niece and nephew.
Jean was a member of Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church where she served with love in the Stephen ministry, was a Deacon, sang in the church choir, served as church historian, and enjoyed attending bible studies and book clubs. She also volunteered for the Kansas City Choral for many years. She graduated from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin with a degree in English Literature and later earned a Masters Degree from Wichita State University.
An expert in Shakespearean literature, her children and grandchildren always knew who to call for help when they had to read a Shakespeare play in school. Jean loved to read and do crossword puzzles. She was chosen first to be on a team for any word or trivia games because she was so knowledgeable and intelligent and she could spell any word. She was the original spellcheck!! She volunteered and taught English as a second language to immigrants and also tutored student athletes at Wichita State University.She was very creative and spent many hours lovingly cooking, knitting, needlepointing, sewing, crafting, and creating special gifts for her family.
She is, and will be, deeply missed by those who knew and loved her, but we know that we will be together again in heaven. A celebration of her life will be held at 10:00 a.m. on June 22nd at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church, 9200 Nall Ave., Overland Park, KS.