Helen Mary Smith

Helen Mary Smith, a beloved wife, mother, aunt, daughter and sister, passed away peacefully on

February 18, 2026, at the age of ninety-seven. She was born on January 9, 1929, in Alpha, NJ to

Louis Gorzsas and Helen Sagi.

Helen is survived by her nieces and nephews: Cathryn Gorzsas Hanlon and husband Jack of

Youngsville, NC; Susan Gorzsas Melroy and husband Bob of Newton, NJ; Paul Gorzsas and wife

Luanne of Marshall, TX; David Gorzsas of Manchester, MD; Christopher Gorzsas of Phillipsburg, NJ;

sister-in-law Marytheresa Robinson Gorzsas of Stewartsville, NJ; cousins Shirley Jackson of

Whippany, NJ and Rosemary Barton of Mendham, NJ; and nine grandnieces and grandnephews:

Matthew Gorzsas, Adam Melroy, Victoria Levy, Lauren Senter, Robert Melroy III, Daisy and Arthur

Gorzsas, Michaela and John Hanlon III.

Helen was predeceased by her loving husband, James Linden Smith, a son Michael L. Smith, a

stepson Michaels S. Smith, her brother Louis A. Gorzsas and her parents.

Helen graduated from Phillipsburg High School in Phillipsburg, NJ in 1947 and went on to study

nursing at Jersey City School of Nursing in Jersey City, NJ where she graduated with a Diploma in

Nursing in 1950. After graduation she worked in the emergency room at Jersey City Medical Center

and then in New York City before moving to Las Vegas, NV in 1955. While living in Las Vegas, she

held various nursing jobs in the emergency room, pediatrics, working for the city of Las Vegas and the

state of Nevada. Helen also supported her husband Linden with his electrical business, LinAir.

Helen and her husband were members of the Church of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Spring

Lake, NC from the time they moved to North Carolina from Las Vegas in 2011. Helen was a member

of the Daughters of the Nile, an international fraternal organization for women that is dedicated to

supporting Shriners International and eventually held an officer position. She enjoyed volunteering for

various funding raising activities for the Shriners Hospitals for Children. She and Linden were active

in the Zelzah Shrine of Las Vegas, NV, where he became Potentate and Helen became First Lady in

1995. In her later years she and her husband spent time traveling across the US in their RV, visiting

friends, national parks, and cruising to destinations in Alaska, Australia, and the Caribbean.

A memorial service to celebrate Helen's life will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2026, at 1:00 p.m.

at the Church of the Covenant Presbyterian Church, located in Spring Lake, NC. Family and friends

are invited to gather after the service in the fellowship hall to share their memories of Helen.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that memorials be made to the Church of the Covenant, 118 W

Manchester Rd, Spring Lake, NC 28390