Mary Schmitt Smith

Mary Theresa Schmitt Smith, 69, of Bloomfield Hills, passed away unexpectedly on March 9, 2023, after a short illness.
Mary (or "Terry" as she was sometimes known to her family) was born on December 9, 1953, in Detroit, Michigan to the late James Francis and Patricia Ann (Healy) Schmitt.
She grew up on the eastside of Detroit, attending Our Lady of Queen of Peace elementary school and Bishop Gallagher High School. She attended the Eastern Michigan University where she played center on the women's basketball team (did I mention she was *tall*?) and was elected student body president. After graduating (Sum Laude) from Eastern Michigan. She went on to get her Doctor of Law (J.D.) degree at University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (1979) followed by a Master of Laws in Taxation (LLM) at Wayne State University in 1986, specializing in Estate Planning for People with Disabilities.
She met her husband (Richard "Rico" Smith) while at Eastern Michigan. He initially wowed her with his motorcycle, his rakish mustache, very well-trained Labrador Retriever and overall good looks, but he proved to be a keeper, nonetheless. They were married at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church on July 8, 1977, and moved to the Bloomfield Hills/Birmingham area where they started their family.
Those who encountered Mary knew her as a force of nature and of grace. Growing up as the second oldest in a family of nine kids, she made sure she wasn't overlooked. Always tall and big for her age (she was in the 90+ percentile in so many things), she was usually able to settle the inevitable disagreements with her siblings merely by sitting on them. The rest of her siblings may have sometimes resented this unnatural advantage but were happy later on as the teenaged Mary T. blazed a memorable trail of rebellion, softening up her parents for the rest of her brothers and sisters. Always interested in fairness and the rights of the underdog she tested the parental limits early and often, demonstrating firsthand to her sibs what you could (and more important, what you couldn't) get away with. Although she managed to get herself "grounded" for a continuous year during high school, it didn't prevent her from being seen by her Aunt Mowie attending a Tigers baseball game. As she grew older, the rebelliousness matured into a keen sense of justice and found more productive channels, leading to her involvement with student politics, and then her interest in law and advocating for women's rights.
She began her career as a law clerk at the Oakland County Court and then went into private practice specializing in Estate Planning, Elder Law, and Disability Law and Special Needs Trusts. She created a type of trust to protect assets of individuals with disabilities, a concept that was adopted into federal law as a "(d)(4)(A)" trust. She became Michigan's first certified Elder Law Attorney in 1999 and in 2005 formed her own firm, the Theresa Law Center, PC ("There's A Law!") to work on Elder Law. Eventually, she merged this center with the firm Lipson Neilson PC, where she has been a partner. In 2003, she became the 9th recipient of the national Theresa Foundation Award, in recognition of her community service for people with disabilities. The list of her accomplishments is long and impressive: She served on the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) Board of Directors becoming a fellow of their academy in 2003; she was a founding member of the Special Needs Alliance (SNA), a past president of the ARC of Oakland County, Inc. (also serving on their Board of Directors and Advisory Board for many years) and one of the founding members of the National Moose Group, one of her favorites.
She was member of the Elder Counsel Advisory Board and received the EP Maxwell J. Schleifer Distinguished Service Award in 2011. She is admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals (6th Circuit), where she successfully appealed a federal district court decision interpreting Medicaid law in favor of a trustee of a special needs trust.
Mary has also presented on probate, tax, estate planning, and special needs trust topics for bar associations and law schools in Michigan, Florida, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Texas, and New Jersey, as well as NAELA. She has published numerous articles in such publications as "Michigan Bar Journal" and "Laches."
Mary T was preceded in death by her parents, James F. Schmitt and Patricia A. Schmitt (nee Healy). Surviving Mary is her husband, Richard Smith of Birmingham, children Benjamin Smith of Bloomfield Hills, Phillip Smith of Bloomfield Hills,
Annelise (Donte) Smith of Chicago, and grandchild Ethan Henry; and siblings Kathleen Rheaume of Chesterfield, Andrew (Myania Moses) Schmitt of Arlington Virginia, Mark (Fran) Schmitt of Wellington, Florida, Anna (Don) Schmitt-Reichert of Pittsfield, Township, Marilyn (John) Twiehaus of Carmel, Indiana, Susan (Michael) Schmitt-Creech of Ann Arbor, Daniel Schmitt of Milwaukie, Oregon, and Douglas Schmitt of Denver, Colorado.
Visitation will take place at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home, 1368 N. Crooks Road, Wednesday, March 15, 4-8pm. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at Holy Name Catholic Church, Thursday, March 16, at 10am. Friends may visit at church beginning at 9:30am.
Memorials appreciated to ARC, 1641 W. Big Beaver, Troy, MI 48084.