Lena Marie Smith-Cole

Lena Marie Smith-Cole passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family, on December 27, 2015, at Talbot Hospice. She was 92. She was born on December 16, 1923, in Easton, MD. She was the daughter of the late Arthur Leveve Swartz, Sr., and Annie Katherine Eberhard. Soon after graduating from Easton High School in 1940, she began working as a secretary for J. McKinney Willis and later for Dan Henry, Esq. She then began her career working for Maryland National/Bank of America. After retirement, she spent many hours volunteering for Shore Health Systems and the Diagnostic & Imaging Center in Easton. Lena Marie was a loving wife, mother, and a busy homemaker on the farm, while tending to her vegetable and flower gardens. She was known for her beautiful peonies. Lena Marie loved playing cards at the Elks and Senior Center, while she also loved to play Rummikub with her daughter and her caregivers. She also enjoyed going on bus trips in her free time. Lena Marie had been member of the Grace Lutheran Church since birth. She was also a member of the Easton Elks Lodge #1622. The family would like to thank all the special caregivers for their love and support thoughout her final years. She is survived by her children, Barbara Jo Bender of Salisbury and Lewis Howard Smith, Jr. (Gwen) of Easton; two step-daughters, Marta Cole Gibson of Cambridge and Connie Cole Lewis of Easton; eight grandchildren, Jeffrey King, Barry King (Laura), Amy Priest (Doug), Wendy Sauca (Sam), Randy Bender (Bruce), Nicole Bender, Pat Bender, Matthew Bender (Cherianne), Chrystel Lewis and Nichole Bordley; nine great-grandchildren, Maddy and Morgan Sauca, Hunter and Sean Priest, Mayson, Kendall and Brody King, and Sydney and Christian Bender. She is also survived by one sister-in-law, Marie Swartz of Easton, along with many nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents, Lena Marie was preceded in death by her first husband of 42 years, Lewis Howard Smith, Sr.; her second husband of 14 years, Francis Cole; a brother, Arthur L. Swartz, Jr.; and sisters, Anna Mae Rash and Dorothy E. Fischer. A visitation will be held on Thursday, December 31, 2015, from 1-2 p.m., with the service to follow at 2 p.m. at the Grace Lutheran Church, 111 Brookletts Ave., in Easton. Burial will follow at the New Spring Hill Cemetery in Easton. Flowers would be greatly appreciated or memorial donations may be made to the Talbot Hospice House, 586 Cynwood Drive, Easton, MD 21601.

Lena Marie Smith-Cole

December 16, 1923 - December 27, 2015