Nanette J Smith
July 21, 1932 ~ January 18, 2022 (age 89) 89 Years Old
Tribute
Nanette J. Smith came with her husband, William C. Smith, to Fort Myers from Tampa in 1965. She died on January 18, 2022 at Hope Hospice in Cape Coral, Florida.
Born in Little Rock, AR in 1932, she grew up in Lakeland, FL, graduating from Lakeland High School. She was a member of the first freshman class of women in 1949 at the University of Florida which had become coeducational in 1947; she was a “charter resident” of Mallory Hall, one of the first two women’s halls completed on the Gainesville campus. There she became a member of Kappa Delta Sorority, and remained active for more than 40 years in its Southwest Florida alumnae chapter which she served as charter president.
Nanette received her BA degree at UF and later her MA at University of South Florida, Tampa. She taught speech and journalism at Gainesville High School, and after coming to Fort Myers taught reading and organized a program for secondary reading in Lee County Schools. In 1973 she joined the staff of Edison Community College, progressing over the next 20 years to Vice President for Institutional Advancement in charge of communications, college relations, grants and development for the college’s campuses in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties. She also served as organizer and Executive Director for the Edison Community College Endowment Corp., now the Edison College Foundation, generating private support for student scholarships, academic program enhancement, and special facilities such as the Gallery of Fine Art (now Bob Rauschenberg Art Gallery) and Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall.
She served with a number of national and regional education groups and committees, including the American Association of Community Colleges, grants consultant for the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts, and commission chairman for Florida Association of Community Colleges. She was District III trustee for the Southeastern States of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and later served three years as a National Director for CASE. She served for 10 years as a national officer of Kappa Delta Sorority, working to establish the Kappa Delta Foundation and its scholarship and education programs.
She was active in Covenant Presbyterian Church, the Women’s Community Club, Edison Pageant of Light activities, Elizabeth Benevolent Society, Key Investment Club and a past president of First Harbour Towers Condominium Assn. and past president of the Edision Garden Club. She was a member of Lee County Alumnae Panhellenic, and a Board member of United Way of Lee County.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Smith whom she married in 1951. Anna Lee Siemen, their daughter, resides in North Fort Myers; they have two granddaughters, Christina Siemen and Megan Sprung, and four great grandchildren.
Services are pending at the Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Florida, with local arrangements by Harvey-Engelhardt Funeral Home, 1600 Colonial Blvd.
Born in Little Rock, AR in 1932, she grew up in Lakeland, FL, graduating from Lakeland High School. She was a member of the first freshman class of women in 1949 at the University of Florida which had become coeducational in 1947; she was a “charter resident” of Mallory Hall, one of the first two women’s halls completed on the Gainesville campus. There she became a member of Kappa Delta Sorority, and remained active for more than 40 years in its Southwest Florida alumnae chapter which she served as charter president.
Nanette received her BA degree at UF and later her MA at University of South Florida, Tampa. She taught speech and journalism at Gainesville High School, and after coming to Fort Myers taught reading and organized a program for secondary reading in Lee County Schools. In 1973 she joined the staff of Edison Community College, progressing over the next 20 years to Vice President for Institutional Advancement in charge of communications, college relations, grants and development for the college’s campuses in Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties. She also served as organizer and Executive Director for the Edison Community College Endowment Corp., now the Edison College Foundation, generating private support for student scholarships, academic program enhancement, and special facilities such as the Gallery of Fine Art (now Bob Rauschenberg Art Gallery) and Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall.
She served with a number of national and regional education groups and committees, including the American Association of Community Colleges, grants consultant for the National Endowment for the Humanities and National Endowment for the Arts, and commission chairman for Florida Association of Community Colleges. She was District III trustee for the Southeastern States of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), and later served three years as a National Director for CASE. She served for 10 years as a national officer of Kappa Delta Sorority, working to establish the Kappa Delta Foundation and its scholarship and education programs.
She was active in Covenant Presbyterian Church, the Women’s Community Club, Edison Pageant of Light activities, Elizabeth Benevolent Society, Key Investment Club and a past president of First Harbour Towers Condominium Assn. and past president of the Edision Garden Club. She was a member of Lee County Alumnae Panhellenic, and a Board member of United Way of Lee County.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Bill Smith whom she married in 1951. Anna Lee Siemen, their daughter, resides in North Fort Myers; they have two granddaughters, Christina Siemen and Megan Sprung, and four great grandchildren.
Services are pending at the Florida National Cemetery, Bushnell, Florida, with local arrangements by Harvey-Engelhardt Funeral Home, 1600 Colonial Blvd.
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