Bernice H. Smith

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Bernice Holman Smith, 85, died December 28, 2007 at her home.

She was born July 22, 1922 to Leonard Holman and Mildred Tabor Holman in Brookfield.

Though the Holman family moved out of state for a brief time, she spent most of her growing years in Randolph. It was there, on the family farm, that she married George "Moon" Smith, from Saratoga Springs, N.Y. on August 22, 1941. Saratoga Springs is where they would call "home" for the rest of their days, raising their family there.

She was predeceased by her parents, her husband, her brother Russell, brother Charlie, sister Katherine, brother Robert, and most recently, brother Carroll.

Survivors include a daughter, Nancy Robinson, and her children Clyde Jr., Jason, and Jennifer, all of Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; a son, Leonard and his children Shannon, Amber, and Justin of Arizona; a daughter, Joy Neighbor of Virginia and her children Kimberley Jewett and Erin Jewett of Arizona; several great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren; sisters Joan Kingsbury of South Burlington, Shirley Graziano of Randolph Center, and Nancy Spitler of California, and their families; and three sisters-in-law, Kay Holman of Illinois, Anne Holman of New York; and Pauline Holman of Vermont; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.

She loved nature, plants, and the great outdoors. It was her pioneering spirit that motivated her to pack up her kids and tents to venture across the country every year. She climbed North America’s highest mountains, and ventured to the bottom of the Grand Canyon many times. In 1960 she was the very first woman to travel the Alcan Highway alone, traveling from New York to Alaska, clocking 13,000 miles on her odometer that summer.

At the age of 33, she entered college, the same day her youngest child, Nancy, entered school. She earned several degrees at Russell Sage College. In her 40s, when her kids were grown, she took her first teaching position with Boces in Saratoga County, and at age 55 she took her first full-time teaching position in Special Education in Corinth, N.Y.

At her request there will be no services and she had entered the anatomical gift program at Albany Medical Center. Flowers or a plant may be sent to a friend, or perhaps a rose planted in your garden in her memory.

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