Our beloved wife, mother and sister, Mari Grace Smith, 44, of Wheelersburg, lost her courageous 16-year battle with cancer on December 18, 2024. She was born to the late Jack Leroy and Nancy Katherine Daily Harness on April 28, 1980, in Portsmouth. Mari Grace was a 1998 graduate of Clay High School, whom she represented in the Miss River Days Pageant. She graduated from Shawnee State University with a Bachelor of Middle Childhood Education with Math and Social Science concentrations. She also received a Masters in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College.
In 2006, she received the Ohio Outstanding Elementary Mathematics Teacher Award from the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics. She taught at Wheelersburg Elementary School her entire 22-year career, beginning with 5th & 6th grade Math, and recently transitioning to 5th grade Social Studies. Her many students in both disciplines can attest to her teaching excellence.
Mari Grace had also been a coach of junior and senior high volleyball, and junior high basketball and track. She was also a former Quiz Bowl advisor for the junior high team. She loved to camp with her family, sit by a pool and play cards. An incredibly gifted singer, she and her family also attended musicals together and they enjoyed watching movies in front of their fireplace with a bowl of popcorn. Mari Grace was a life-long member of All Saints Episcopal Church, serving in the choir and on the church vestry.
On August 2, 2003, she married Nathan Jeffrey Smith in Portsmouth. The couple was blessed with three daughters, the late Hannah Katherine, and Kaylee Ann and Addison Lee, both at home.
Also surviving are her sister, Jennifer (Eric) Mains of Lucasville; her nieces and nephew, Mia, Ellie and Jack Mains; and several very special aunts, uncles and cousins.
A Memorial Service will be held at 11 A.M. on Saturday, December 28, 2024, at All Saints Episcopal Church in Portsmouth with Rev. Gene Hallahan officiating. Inurnment will be in the St. Thomas Columbarium at All Saints Church. Arrangements are under the direction of the Ralph F. Scott Funeral Home in Portsmouth.
The family will receive friends on Friday, December 27, 2024, at All Saints Church from 3 to 7 P.M. and one hour prior to the service on Saturday.
Memorial contributions may be made to SOMC Hospice, 2201-25th St., Portsmouth, OH 45662.
