Obituary of Lily J Smith

Lily Jean Smith (1928 – 2015) was a long-time resident of Simi Valley. Born to Robert Lee Brown and Patrocinia Maria Brown in Sinaloa, Baja Mexico, where Lee Brown was a district manager for a vegetable packing company based in Santa Ana, CA. After returning to Santa Ana briefly the Brown family moved to Simi Valley in the late thirties. Lee Brown joined the staff of the Sinaloa Ranch on the west end of Simi. Lily grew up with the city. She graduated from Simi High School in 1946 where she was the class treasurer and played several sports. She attended Ventura JC and later went to work for the Kern Paper company in Los Angeles. While living in Los Angeles she met and married Daniel J. Smith. After residing in Palmdale and Santa Maria, Lily and Dan and their 1st grade son, Michael, returned to the west end of Simi Valley. Lily joined the Simi Valley School District as clerk and then as a school secretary serving at Garden Grove and Arroyo elementary schools until she retired in 1990. Lily was predeceased in 2010 by her brother Robert Lee Brown Jr. an engineer with Rockwell International and Rocketdyne. A victim of a degenerative decease – Poly Myositis, for the last several years Lily could be seen running around Simi on her scooter. Lily enjoyed arts in crafts and was an avid quilter. She is survived by her son Michael and daughter-in-law Leigh and grandsons, Jacob, 23 and Christian, 20. Her husband of 56 years Dan passed away at home in his sleep 7 hours after Lily.