Jeanne (Bates) Smith

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Smith, Jeanne Bates age 54, of Edina, MN, passed away peacefully at her home on September 25, 2015 after a six year battle with ovarian cancer. She moved to Minnesota in 2013 from Sarasota, FL, where she had lived since 2000. Jeanne is survived by her husband of 18 years, David Franklin Smith; two minor children, Lauren O'Neill Smith and David Ahearn Smith; and three adult stepchildren, Harper Alice Smith of Brooklyn, NY, Sebastian M. Smith of West Palm Beach, FL, and Eda Clare Smith of Austin, TX. Other surviving family members include her father John Bates and her brother Andrew Bates, both of Sarasota; her sister Kathleen DeMaria of West Hartford, CT; and brother John Bates Jr. of Albany, CA. Jeanne grew up in Larchmont, NY. She was a graduate of Iona College and the Thunderbird School of Global Management. In New York she was director of new business development for Edwin Schlossberg Inc., a design firm led by the husband of the current ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg. In Sarasota she was Board Chair of the Forty Carrots Family Center and later Managing Director of the Sarasota Ballet, under the leadership of Artistic Director Iain Webb and noted British ballerina Margaret Barbieri. A devoted wife and mother to a blended family of five children, Jeanne radiated love and joy. Her skills in the kitchen made mealtimes a center of family activity and togetherness. Her approach to motherhood was to put the family first in all things and to give love unconditionally. She had a generous spirit and a broadminded outlook on life that attracted people to her all her life. Jeanne met her husband David, an investment banker and author-playwright, in 1995 in Manhattan and they were married in 1997, a second marriage for both. Interment Dawn Valley Memorial Park. Mass of Christian Burial at the Church of Our Lady of Grace, 5071 Eden Ave., Edina, MN, Friday, October 2, 11 AM, with visitation from 10-11 AM Friday at church and also 4-7 PM Thursday at: Washburn-McReavy.com Edina Chapel 952-920-3996 5000 W. 50th St. & Hwy 100

Published on September 27, 2015