Carolyn Elizabeth Smith

Service Details

A funeral service will be held Friday, July 29 at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Racine. Visitation is from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the church with the service to immediately follow.

Memorial Suggestions

Donations are suggested to Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Racine.

Carolyn Elizabeth Smith (nee Ziehm), 90, died peacefully at home July 16 with family at her side. Carolyn was born Dec. 21, 1931 in Berlin, Wis., the fourth and last child of Julius and Marguerite (nee Margraff) Ziehm. Carolyn enrolled at the University of Wisconsin to, like her father, become a pharmacist. She met Andy Smith, her future husband and fellow pharmacy student, at the Jan. 1, 1953 Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Wisconsin was playing in its first Rose Bowl and lost, 7-0, to USC. More importantly though the co-eds began dating and married the next year, the start of a winning marriage that lasted 66 years until Andy’s death in 2020. Carolyn was a proud 1954 graduate of UW’s pharmacy school and a true “super Mom” who simultaneously ran a household and worked as a full-time professional outside of the home. She was as masterful at teaching her kids to throw a spiral and bait a hook as she was at compounding medicines, filling prescriptions and rounding out the day by cooking dinner. Through it all she set a sterling example of the value of hard work and devotion to family and community. Carolyn was a pharmacist first at St. Luke’s Hospital in Racine and later at Southern Wisconsin Center for the Disabled in Union Grove. She retired from the state position in 2002. She was also proud to be a member of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Racine since 1954, where she held virtually every position imaginable including council president, Sunday school teacher and usher. She was also PTA president at Beebe School in Elmwood Park and a Cub Scout den mother. In retirement she enjoyed traveling to the Caribbean, Australia and Hawaii as well as served with her dear sister-in-law Minnie Holz as an after-school tutor at Mitchell Middle School. Carolyn encouraged a love of nature and travel in her children through many summer vacations to see national parks from California to Montana to Florida.

Carolyn is survived by her children Steven Smith of Madison, Mark (Janelle) Smith of Columbia, S.C., Paul (Caroline) Smith of Wauwatosa and Carolyn Jane (Tim Moran) Smith of Zionsville, Indiana; grandchildren Matthew (Lillian) Smith of Columbia, S.C., Shannon Smith of Isle of Palms, S.C. and Brett Moran of Zionsville, Ind.; great-grandson Matthew Stowe Smith of Columbia, S.C.; sister Kathryn Bolon of Sarasota, Florida; as well as many nieces and nephews. She is predeceased by her husband Andy, her parents and brothers Robert Ziehm and David Ziehm and her beloved dog, Max.

A funeral service will be held Friday, July 29 at Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Racine. Visitation is from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the church with the service to immediately follow. Donations are suggested to Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Racine.