Frances T Smith

The heaven’s trumpet sounded for an angel and her name was Frances Teresa (Vaughn) Smith.  She was called home on Tuesday May 21, 2019 peacefully in her sleep.  She was born on September 19, 1936 to her parents, Roger Vaughn and Martha (Waters) Vaughn.  She and her brothers who have both preceded her in death, the late Alvin Vaughn (Eloise Vaughn) and the late Ronald Vaughn (Mary Vaughn) were raised by their grandmother, the late Mattie Waters in Philadelphia, PA.

Frances migrated to NYC in the mid 1940’s.  She attended and graduated from Boys and Girls HS (Brooklyn).   Soon after graduating she obtained a job at the Attorney General of the State of NY Law Department.  That’s where she met her sister friend Asha Ida Bell.  While living in Harlem she met and married her husband, Excee Smith Jr (Tarboro, NC).  They married on September 15, 1957.  They would move to a few places between Harlem and the Bronx before deciding to move and settle in Staten Island, NY.

Having switched career paths, she attended Richmond College and earned a bachelor’s degree in nursing.  She would later become a Nursing administrator and Team Leader at the former Willowbrook State School now known as Staten Island DDSO.  She was and still is respected for the awesome job she did in those roles for 30 years and was a NYS employee of the year for her efforts.

Frances was known for having such style and grace.  She was known for her loving and compassionate ways.  She was a pillar in her church and community.  At ICC she was known as a prayer warrior. She was also known for her “wearing of the hats”.  She enjoyed cooking, eating, praying, knitting (a long time ago), talking, and spending time with friends, sister-friends and family.  Her family and friends will always remember her as a selfless, spiritual, kind and honest person.  She was an avid reader, always pushed for education, because that was and still is the key to a productive future.  She prayed hard and believed hard in the word of God.

Preceding her in death is Valerie (Smith) Kendall, her first born and 2 grandchildren Joseph and Tamanika Smith.  Frances is survived by her husband Excee, son Kevin Smith and daughter Lazinka Smith-Edwards (Kevin Edwards), granddaughters Patrice (Gerard Petti), Manisha (Russell Vinson Sr), Kiyera, Sharaya and Simone (Donna Ware), grandsons Quentin (Michelle Daniels), Dequan, Kieshawn, Rhyan, great grands Da’miera, Dyasia, Russell and Giovanna and a host of family and friends who loved her dearly.

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