Donna Smith Obituary

Donna Joanne Smith, nee Olson was born in Jamestown, NY, June 27, 1934, one of five children of Lars Siegfried Olson and Ruth Alquist Olson.

Died December 20, 2025, Aiken, South Carolina.

After graduating from Jamestown High School, she met and married Richard Wallace Smith in 1954. Beginning that year, she lived in Türkiye, Germany, Italy, Guyana, Egypt, Pakistan, and India while supporting his diplomatic career and raising a family. After exploring the World, Donna and Dick retired to Hilton Head Island and then Aiken, South Carolina. She volunteered for ten years as a Pink Lady at Aiken Regional Hospital, and with her husband, she was a patron of the Aiken Symphony Guild. An avid lifelong bridge and tennis player, she was a member of Woodside Country Club and the Green Boundary Club. She also enjoyed her garden and her pet dogs and cats. She is survived by her beloved brother, James Olson, of Saratoga, NY; three children, Michael Smith and Rebecca Lorraine of Aiken, South Carolina, and James Smith of Northfield, Minnesota; and four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers and in honor of her 91 years of life and service, please consider gifts to ACTS or the "Helping Hands" program supporting children in transition.

A "Celebration of Life" Cocktail Party will be held at Woodside Country Club on January 31, 2026, from 5-7 p.m.