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Dorothy E. "Dottie" Smith heard her song playing in heaven, put on her dancing shoes and joined her many dance partners on Monday, December 8, 2014, at the young age of 94! Born November 4, 1920 in Waterloo New York, and although she always said it was beautiful country, she was happy to call Texas home since 1955. Over the years she made many trips "back home" to visit her sister, nieces, and nephews and came back to Texas with great stories to tell how they visited the old homestead, danced the night away at the VFW, and just had one hell of a good time! Dottie loved to dance, no matter what the song or the dance, she would be on the floor, and she was good at it too! She often said that she would rather dance than eat. Over the years she was a Tuesday night regular at the old Roaring 20's dance hall off of old Blanco Road. There the band leader would refer to her as "wiggles" and play "New York, New York" in her honor. She loved all music from Santana to Tony Bennett, to Bette Midler and was fortunate enough to catch them all in concert during her life. Another love of Dottie's was animals, all type, but particularly cats. Over the years she had many cats, probably her most memorable being "Sir Victor" her Himalayan cat. If ever she was engaged in a conversation with someone else about their cat, she made it known that she had a Himalayan!!! Dottie loved to travel and had many wonderful memories of several cruises and many, many trips to Las Vegas. Even on board the cruises she and her dance partner entered dancing contest and won!!! She never missed an opportunity to travel to Vegas with her gambling buddy, and between the two of them, they hit many a jackpots and came back with some hilarious stories to tell. She was a big Spurs fan, especially loved Tony Parker! On game nights she would watch the games & converse with her old son Richard about what Pop needed to do to win! Dottie never met a stranger, and would strike up a conversation with anyone, especially if they had a baby or a small child with them. It did not matter where she was, supermarket, mall, anywhere if you gave her a second look, you would soon be involved in a conversation with her about something! Because of her friendliness, over the years she grew to have many, many friends. During the last three years of her life she resided at two different assistant living facilities, and all the care givers as well as staff loved her humor and wit. Whatever was on her mind, soon found a way to cross her lips!!!! Dottie is preceded in death by her first husband, Gilbert Ireland, her second husband, Gordon Smith, her sisters Mary and Blanche, Brothers Gordon and Raymond as well as her son Richard Ireland. Dottie is survived by her son Gary Smith and partner Mia, daughter Deby Bailey and husband Dale, granddaughter Lisa Giardi, husband Pete, great-granddaughter Marina; grandson Gordon Ireland, wife Sonya, great-granddaughter Darby and great-grandson Logan. She was also very fortunate to have two very loving special people in her life, Marcia & Jack Davis. Special thanks to the caregivers and staff at Autumn Grove Cottages, especially one very special lady, Becky Carmichael. Also, to the caregivers and staff at Honey's House of Helotes, thank you so much for making her last days comfortable, and loving her in such a short time. And thank you Rita Warren for the many years of love and care you gave to our mom. If you would like to honor Dottie with a memorial contribution, please choose a charity of your choice, or contribute in her memory to St. Jude's Children's Hospital, Roadrunner Cat Coalition 13807 Wildstone Circle, San Antonio Tx 78232, or another animal charity of your choice. SERVICES Visitation will be held from 6-8 PM Thursday, December 18, 2014 at Mission Park Funeral Chapels North. Graveside services will be held at 10:00 AM, Friday, December 19, 2014 at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery. Online guestbook at www.missionparks.com

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Dorothy E "Dottie" Smith

November 4, 1920 - December 8, 2014