Lucille Deran Smith, a Darien native, sister, mother, grandmother, died in Fairfield after a brief illness. She was 91.
Lucille Smith, 91, died March 2 in Fairfield.
Born in Stamford in 1925, Lucille was raised in Darien as the oldest of five children of Leon and Elizabeth Deran.
Lucille attended Darien High School (class of 1943) and worked in her father’s photography business.
In 1953, she married Edward P. Smith, an attorney from Brooklyn, N.Y. Ed and Lucille first lived in New York City where three of their five children were born, before moving to an 1880 house in Norwalk. There, Lucille raised five children while still finding time to host regular tennis games and legendary dinner parties.
Always popular from high school through her last days, Lucille took great pride in her husband, her children and her home. She was never happier than when she opened her home to family, friends and guests. She was the perfect hostess and a skilled and adventurous cook. She also helped raise funds for charitable causes including the Silvermine Guild of Artists.
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— an obituary from Magner Funeral Home
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Lucille’s graciousness and sense of style served her well later in life when she started helping out in a friend’s fashion boutique and within a few years became one of the top-grossing personal shoppers for Saks Fifth Avenue. Customers learned what her family and friends had always known: for Lucille, other people’s happiness and comfort always came first.
Lucille is survived by two of her sisters: Delores Dwelle and Elaine Kilbourne, predeceased by brother Lt. Leon Deran and sister Jean D. Montaperto, her five children: Peter, Greg, Elizabeth Bartram (David), Edward (Tracey) and Read (Karen), as well as six grandchildren: Ashley and Austin Smith, Mac, Hunt and Paige Bartram, and Mason Landon-Smith.
Calling hours are from 5 to 7 p.m., Monday, March 7 at the Magner Funeral Home, 12 Mott Ave., Norwalk.
A Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, March 8 at St. Thomas More Church, 374 Middlesex Road, Darien.
Donations should be sent in Lucille’s name to Alzheimer’s of CT at 200 Executive Blvd., Suite 4B, Southington, CT 06489.