Dolores Anita Ast Smith passed away on Monday, Aug. 11, 2014, in La Quinta, Calif., from complications following a fall in June, 2014.
Dolores (Dee) was born in the Mission District of San Francisco, Calif., on March 9, 1919, to Ethel (Reussing) and Herman Ast. In 1920, the family moved to Winnemucca, where her father owned and operated the town's commercial laundry. The family grew and lived there for the next twenty years and more, surviving the Great Depression quite well in the company of family and many friends. Dee, her brothers Herman, Jr., and Robert, and her sister Beverly all graduated from Humboldt County High School in Winnemucca.
After high school graduation in 1936, Dee went to Sacramento and then San Francisco, Calif., to study art and commercial art. In Yuma, Ariz., in 1942, she married Donald C. Smith, also of Winnemucca.
After Don's return from serving in the US Army in Europe, they raised their two children mostly in California, moving to Arlington, Mountain View, Riverside, and Indio. When both her children were in high school, Dee joined Des-Arts, a painting club in the Coachella Valley. She specialized in painting different forms of still life, florals, and landscapes, primarily of favorite places where the family had lived and traveled. She always believed that a truly good painting contains an appropriate balance of purple, green, and orange!
Dolores is survived by her children, Marilynn R. Smith of Spring, Texas, and Donald R. Smith of La Quinta, Calif.; grandchildren, Anne Spandau (Ken) Linehan, Robert F. (Danielle) Spandau, David C. (Emily) Smith, and Stacy Smith; nine great-grandchildren, Austen Spandau, Parker Linehan, Kira Linehan, Simone Spandau, Evan Smith, Jaccob Smith, Taylor Dumlao, Jayden Dumlao, and Brooklyn Lango; her sister and brother-in-law, Beverly Ast and Alan R. Coffey, of San Jose, Calif.; her sisters-in-law, Ruby Byrd Austen, of Rocklin, Calif., and Marguerite Smith Bengochea, of Winnemucca; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents (1969 and 1979), her husband of 67 years (2009), and her two brothers (1996 and 2013).
No services are planned, at Dolores's request. Her ashes will be interred with her husband's at Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, Calif.
Memorial donations may be made to the Alzheimer's Association, Coachella Valley Regional Office, 69730 Highway 111, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270, or www.alz.org or to a charity of choice.[[In-content Ad]]
