Mary Racilia Smith

1944 - 2025

Mary Racilia Smith

February 13, 1944 - August 7, 2025

Lake Mary, Florida - Mary Racilia (Rae) Smith passed away on 08/07/2025 in Lake Mary, FL after battling lung cancer for the past year. She was the devoted mother of two children whom she considers her greatest blessing: Alexander of West Palm Beach, FL and Ariana of Longwood, FL. She is survived by her children and many dear friends in Miami, Lake Mary and across the country.

Born and raised in New York City, Mary lived the last 45 plus years of her life in Florida, 41 years in Miami and the remainder in Lake Mary. Mary was a true "renaissance" woman who excelled in business, as a fine artist and a commercial pilot. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at Ohio Wesleyan University and went on to exhibit both oil paintings and sculptures in various local and national shows. She started out with the desire to be the world's greatest painter; however, life took her in another direction. She went on to earn both a Masters in Liberal Studies and a Masters of Social Welfare at the State University of New York at Stonybrook, Long Island, NY. She worked as a non-profit CEO, a senior government official and an executive management consultant throughout her career serving private and public organizations dedicated to human services. Upon moving to Florida, she also fell in love with flying. She pursued aviation as an avocation and worked for 30 years as a commercial pilot and flight instructor on weekends, holidays and vacation time. She had the immense joy of flying across the vast USA. Mary resumed her art career during the last decade of her life and produced and showed many paintings using acrylics. She volunteered for various orginazations and worked as a consultant up until her passing. Her family plans a "Celebration" service for her on Zoom platform so that her many friends have a chance to say goodbye.