Obituary of Elaine Smith

Elaine Smith of Belmont and Northport, Maine, died on Thursday, Aug. 27, after a courageous battle with cancer. She was 55 years old. Born in Louisville, KY, Elaine moved to New York City as an infant and grew up there, summering in Bayside (Northport), Maine. Her great grandmother was one of the original homeowners in the quaint, Victorian-style seaside community. After graduating from St. Francis College in Biddeford, ME, with at B.A. in Sociology cum laude (1977), Elaine held a variety of administrative positions in New York and the Caribbean before settling on education administration. Graduate work at Boston College landed her the Assistant Registrar job at Audrey Cohen College (now known as Metropolitan College) in New York, her last career-track job before moving to Maine to care for her dying mother in 1998. In Maine, Elaine worked as a book keeper and served as an Overseer for the Northport Village Corporation. Tall, red-headed, vibrant and usually smiling Elaine was a voracious reader, political intellect, creative gardener, gifted chef, and, an imaginative and charming hostess; furthermore, she never met a stray cat or kitten she could ignore. Elaine leaves behind her family of cats and kittens, many of which have been placed in new homes, a brother, Steve Dibble of Clinton, NY, niece Ruthie Dibble of New York City, nephew Chris Dibble of Chapel Hill, NC, uncle Leon Brown and cousin Melissa Arlin, both of Troy, OH, as well as many long-devoted friends. She was preceded in death by her mother, Magdalena Brown Smith . A private graveside service will be held at Northport Cemetery to celebrate Elaine’s life and lay to rest Elaine’s and her mother‘s ashes. Many thanks to Waldo County Home Health Care and Hospice for helping make Elaine’s final weeks comfortable. Gifts in memory of Elaine should be made to Searsport Animal Foundation Endowment (S.A.F.E.), P.O. Box 178, Searsport, ME 04974 for their tireless rescue and placement efforts on behalf of Elaine’s beloved cats. On-line condolence may be placed at www.crabielripostafuneralhome.com