Patricia A. Smith, 89, of Overland Park, Kansas died Tuesday November 29, 2022. Patricia was born February 9, 1933, in Arkansas City, Kansas to Ralph F. and Inez Patton. She spent the entirety of her youth in Ark City, graduating from high school in 1951. Higher education took Pat to Manhattan, KS where she attended Kansas State University and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. It was also where she met and fell in love with her husband Dean Smith. They were wed in the Summer of 1955 and shortly thereafter moved to Topeka, KS where Pat began teaching at East Topeka High School while Dean pursued his Juris Doctorate from Washburn University. They eventually moved to Kansas City, KS in June of 1959 where they started their family. 

Patricia was the mother of three boys: Kevin, Scott and Brian. While they kept her more than busy, Pat remained involved in her community, including production of plays for the Junior League Children’s Theater. Eventually, her desire to educate on a full-time basis won out; she began to get back into teaching in the Kansas City, KS Public School system. Her passion for teaching English, Speech and Theatre was well known, especially at Eisenhower Middle School where she taught full time until her retirement in 1993. In all, she spent the better part of three decades in education. 

While she enjoyed many things, there were two pursuits that stood out during her lifetime; an adventurous spirit to see the world with her husband Dean and to travel nearly anywhere to watch their beloved Kansas State Wildcats play football. They attended games at nearly every Big 12 destination during the regular season and would willingly follow their Wildcats from New York to Los Angeles. They rarely missed a bowl game. Outside of football, she and Dean traveled to Europe, Asia, South America, the Caribbean, Australia, and New Zealand. While they didn’t get to all 50 states, Pat and Dean traveled the US from Maine to Hawaii, from the Florida Keys to Denali National Park in Alaska. Over the course of her retirement Pat developed a passion to paint. She loved to capture places familiar to her life and the simple beauty of flora and landscape. 

She is preceded in death by her husband Dean, her son Kevin (Jodee) of Kansas City. She is survived by her son Scott of Wichita, KS (Rachel) and Brian of Laramie, Wyoming (Lori). She absolutely loved spending time with her three granddaughters; Adelle, Jacqueline and Caroline, plus three grandsons; Benjamin, Layton and Olin. 

Patricia’s memorial service will be held at Porter Funeral Home, 8535 Monrovia,  Lenexa, KS on Friday, December 16th. Visitation is at 10 am. Service begins at 11 am. The family asks that you give generously to the Employee Scholarship Fund at The Forum in Overland Park. The memorial will support students working at the Forum who are saving for their college education.