Mary Rose Secan Smith

1930 - 2016

Mary Rose Secan Smith February 21, 2016 Point Loma Mary Rose Secan Smith, a daughter of Michigan who ventured west to San Diego after college and stayed six decades to teach, marry and raise a family, died in Point Loma on February. 21, at age 85. Her death followed a cancer diagnosis in June 2015. On the Sunday morning of her passing, she was surrounded by family. The second of seven children, Smith grew up in Waterford Township, just northwest of Pontiac, graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Education in 1953, then headed west.She was working as a first-grade teacher at Martha Farnum Elementary School in Pacific Beach when she met a young Navy veteran named Robert F. Smith. In 1954, they married in St. Charles Borromeo Church in San Diego. Together they raised four children as Mr. Smith built a career in business, with top jobs at Phillips-Ramsey Inc. (advertising and public relations), the San Diego Convention & Visitors Bureau and the advertising and P.R. firm Nuffer Smith, now Nuffer Smith Tucker Inc. From the 1980s into the 2000s, Mr. Smith and Mrs. Smith worked as partners in their own management consulting firm, Strategies & Teams. As they connected with clients worldwide, their travel for work and pleasure crisscrossed five continents, with stops at scores of museums and zoos; and a treasured visit in about 2000 to Katic, Croatia, the town of Mrs. Smith's ancestors. A resident of Pt. Loma for more than 50 years, Mrs. Smith was active with Juniors of Social Service and Pt. Loma Assembly Juniors. As her children grew, she volunteered at Sunset View Elementary School; with the Girl Scouts; and in religious education at Sacred Heart. She painted with watercolors for many years and never stopped rooting for her U. of M. Wolverines and savoring the sounds of the waves at Sunset Cliffs. Above all, Mrs. Smith prized time spent with all generations of her family, friends and neighbors. In their charitable work together, the Smiths made a top priority of Balboa Park, especially the Museum of Natural History and the San Diego Zoo. (Since 2007, the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership's Smith Leadership Symposium has offered professional development to aspiring staffers at cultural non-profit organizations.) Mrs. Smith was predeceased by her eldest son, Matthew, who died in 1979; and her husband, Bob, who died in 2006. She is survived by son Peter Smith and his wife, Ritva Smith, of Imperial Beach; daughter Mary Frances Smith-Reynolds and her husband, Christopher Reynolds, of Los Angeles; daughter Barbara Smith of Los Angeles and San Diego; and grandchildren Pablo Guerra, Mark Smith, Minna Smith and Grace Reynolds. Services for Mrs. Smith will be at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 5, at Sacred Heart Church in Ocean Beach. Reception will follow at the Smith home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests any donations be made to the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership's Smith Leadership Symposium, 1549 El Prado, Suite 1, San Diego, CA 92101 (www.bpcp.org); or the Scripps Mercy Foundation (giving.scripps.org).