- Date Of Birth: December 8, 1945
- Date Of Death: September 24, 2020
- State: Indiana
Mrs. Carolyn Jean (Jeannie) Smith, 74, of Goshen, passed away peacefully following an extended battle with cancer at her home on Thursday, September 24th at 5:50 pm. She was born in Anderson on December 8, 1945 and was the daughter of the late Raymond and Daisy Mae (Jackson) Reger. On Dec. 10, 1967, she married Keith L. Smith in Plainfield. He preceded her in death on June 28, 2007.
Carolyn, also lovingly called “Jeannie” by her immediate family, is survived by her son, Christopher L Smith of Harrison NY and her daughter Gretchen L. (Gabriel) Santiago and granddaughter Regan Santiago of Goshen, her sister Marjorie “Sue” (Jim) North of Indianapolis, and a host of loving nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family as well as her work colleagues, church family and friends. She is also preceded in death by her half sister Margaret Fern (Cox) Sparks and siblings Joan Pugsley, Robert (Bob) Reger and David Reger.
Carolyn’s life will be celebrated during a private memorial service at Elkhart’s Central Christian Church on Sunday, October 4, 2020 at 2 pm. Pastor Doug Cripe will officiate. Although this is a closed service, a live feed will be provided for those wishing to participate along with the family during Carolyn’s services. Instructions for the video uplink will be provided at the end of this obituary. Billings Funeral Home and Cremation Services of Elkhart have been assisting the family with cremation arrangements, per Carolyn’s request.
Carolyn graduated at Ball State University in 1967 with a Master’s degree in education. Over the years, she taught in Anderson IN, Arizona and Germany, but found a home teaching Kindergarten for many years with the Concord School Systems in Elkhart, where she taught and mentored new teachers at Eastside and Southside Schools before retiring in 2011.
She was also a devout Christian lady and served many years as an Elder at Central Christian Church. She loved music, especially piano and singing, and had sung in choirs throughout high school, college and at church as an adult. She was also a guilded Campanonogist. An avid enthusiast of the nativity, Carolyn always looked forward to Christmas and the joy and blessings that would always come with the birth of Christ.
One of the things that made Carolyn happy after retiring was travelling. And the location on the top of the list was England, where she had lived for several years. She had also lived in Germany, but it was her British friends, who became family, that captured her heart and made the trip back often. She also had set a goal to visit every National Park in the United States and usually set out on those adventures with her Alpha Sigma Tau sorority sister from BSU, JoAnn Barrett. Together, they travelled many miles in their quest to see all of the iconic natural beauty America had to offer.
Although she prided herself for being active in her community and her church, quieter times found her at home sewing, quilting or simply reading good books and participating in a wonderful book club. She also loved watching her British television programs.
