Ellen Kerrigan Smith

Ellen Kerrigan Smith
October 3, 1933 - November 27, 2021

My sister Ellen died four years ago. Ellen was the first child of the late Joe and Berneice (née Kerrigan) Smith. She was the loving sister of Will Smith (Mary), Hattie Schenk (Kyle), the late Edward Smith, and the late Debbie Berman (Bill).

Ellen had two sons, Kerrigan (Sylvia) and Joseph (Deborah) Mendicino. She was Grandma Ellen to Sean, Johnny K., Emma, Maria, Rocco, Desiree, and Leonard, and a great-grandmother to Danielle, Dylan, and Addison.

Ellen was born in 1933 in Galion, Ohio. A 1951 graduate of Rhodes High School in Cleveland, Ohio and a 1955 graduate of The Ohio State University, Ellen built her life with intelligence, determination, and a wonderful sense of adventure. She married Sam in 1956 and, just a year later, moved to California in 1957—first settling in Livermore before making San Francisco her home in 1970. For more than four decades, from 1976 until 2021, she lived in the same beloved apartment on 40th Avenue, surrounded by the city she loved.

Ellen was fiercely independent, quick-witted, and generous. She had a sharp sense of humor that could light up a room, and a style entirely her own—bold colors, dramatic flair, and a confidence that made her unforgettable.

She was a teacher, an author, a magazine publisher, a publicist, a designer of lingerie, and a business owner—a woman of tremendous creativity and drive. She was a great fan and supporter of The San Francisco Opera and Opera in the Park. She loved to cook and enjoyed purchasing her fresh produce from The Ferry Building Farmer's Market. She was also an avid knitter and dearly loved the Atelier Yarns Shop on Divisadero Street in San Francisco, where she found friendship, inspiration, and joy.

Ellen is buried between her grandparents, Bill and Zona Kerrigan, and her Aunt Katie and Uncle Bobby Carter in the family plot at Evans Cemetery on Horns Hill Road in St. Louisville, Ohio.

The joy she brought into our lives will carry forward forever -
Hattie - November 27th, 2025.