Virginia F. (Franks) Smith

Virginia Franks Smith, 94, died Feb. 22 at her daughter’s home. 

Known as Ginny, she was born to John Franks and Mai Healy Franks. Raised in West Roxbury, she spent summers in Scituate, where she made her home after graduating from Wells College in 1948.

Ginny made close childhood and college friendships that endured throughout her life. Also from that era, she had an abiding love of big band jazz. 

During the hurricane of 1938, she remembered roller skating in town with her sister Natalie, using their jackets as parachutes to catch the wind. She had special relationships with her aunts Rose and  Elizabeth Healy and Madeline and Louise Franks.

She married Williamson Hampton Smith and raised six children in the “quaint, cozy cottage,” her home of 70 years. 

Sharp-witted and elegant, Ginny was an artist and athlete who loved maps and evening cocktails. She curled her hair with bobby-pins and wore pink lipstick for occasions. She kept gardens and gathered marsh grass and seaweed in her Minot neighborhood for her plots. She remembered streets and bridges in Boston by their original names. She was resilient and proud. 

She routinely (and successfully) completed the New York Times Sunday crossword and kept track of everybody’s birthdays on her calendar, noted with a balloon sketch. She was well-known for her beautiful hand-made birthday cards and for hosting a large Christmas Eve gathering complete with lobster Newburg by the fire. 

 After earning a  kitchen design certification from The Boston Architecture College, Ginny had a successful 30 year career as a kitchen designer primarily on the South Shore. Prior to designing kitchens, Ginny worked several years for South Shore Publishing and the New England Journal of Business. She loved the camaraderie and fun she had with fellow colleagues.

Ginny (known as 'Mimi' or 'Nana') was a devoted grandmother and great-grandmother. Her grandkids and great-grandkids loved swinging in her yard, riding bikes together to Minot beach, playing 'pretend golf' at night at Hatherly Country Club, and enjoying the toys that were passed through generations. They also loved her constant supply of Hershey kisses and Brigham's ice cream. 

She was predeceased by a son, Jerome, and two sisters, Natalie (Hailer) and Elizabeth, who died as an infant.

She is survived by her children, Deane Coady of Brookline, Hampton Smith (Holly) of Scituate, Dana Smith (Carmen) of Albuquerque, NM, Christopher Smith (Natalia) of Duxbury, and Martha Flanagan (Paul) of Scituate, Sisters Janice Smith (Jan) of Amelia Island, Fla., Joyce Nagel (Chris) of Doylestown, Penn., Jackie McGoodwin, (Bob) of Duxbury, and brother John Franks Jr. (Tracy) of Edgewater, Fla., twelve grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

A Celebration of Life will be held in Scituate in the summer. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Team Scituate, Special Olympics MA, 512 Forest St. Marlborough, MA 01752.

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