Daisy Ahern Smith

Daisy Ahern Smith, 98, a Wilton resident for over 70 years, died peacefully on September 6th, of natural causes.

Daisy was born in Mitchell, South Dakota, on May 1,1922, the youngest of five offspring of Daniel and Alice (Judd) Ahern. Her father left soon thereafter, leaving Alice as the children’s sole support through harsh times. Remarkably, they all graduated from Dakota Wesleyan University, with Daisy earning a degree in English.

On campus, Daisy met Walter Roswell Truman Smith of Stamford, Connecticut. Their romance was interrupted when he was drafted into WWII. For over three years they corresponded, while he saw action in the Pacific and she worked as a schoolteacher. After marrying in 1946, they settled in Wilton, where they raised their five children. Walter achieved prominence as a master builder, building historian and civic leader; Daisy actively supported all those endeavors and ran the household. Periodically, that household included youths in need of a stable environment, paired with the Smiths by local organizations.

Daisy was a lifelong volunteer, a gentle soul of quiet brilliance who preferred to work behind the scenes. Under the auspices of Wilton Congregational Church (where she served as a deaconess), she regularly prepared and served meals at Ogden House and baked for multiple food-pantries and shelters; she was a mainstay of antiques shows and other events, for both the church and the Wilton Historical Society. She also volunteered many hours in the emergency room of Norwalk Hospital.

In later years, Daisy and Walter’s North Wilton neighborhood became a “Smith compound” of sorts, where four of their grown children resided with their own families. Daisy’s cooking was the centerpiece of innumerable gatherings, including decades of Thanksgiving feasts inside the antique tool-barn attached to their Forest Lane home. The house was adorned with her handiwork: hooked rugs and wall-hangings she designed and created in her 80s.

Daisy was predeceased by Walter in 2015. For the last three years she lived with three of her children--David, Kathryn and Marilyn, and Kathryn’s husband, Brad--on Lovers Lane. She was, to her final days, a thoughtful listener and advice-giver, ever-openminded, delightfully witty, and supremely grateful for her blessings.

She is survived by her children: Richard (Vivien Orbach) Smith, David Smith, Kathryn (Bradford) Scheller and Marilyn Smith, all of Wilton, and Emily (William) Tyler of Middleburg, Virginia; twelve grandchildren: Jason Smith, Jennifer (Chris) Urban, Tahlia (Joseph) Tartakovsky, Christopher Scheller, Michael Kydes, Brian Scheller (fiancé Jessica Lanzkowsky) , Arielle (Darren) Leva, Daniel Kydes, Kevin Scheller-Crowley (Liz Scheller-Crowley), William Kydes, Jacob Orbach-Smith (fiancé Rebecca Young), and John Walter Montague “Jack” Tyler; five great-grandchildren: Margot, Nava Daisy and Jane Tartakovsky, and Eliezer and Ruth Leva; and numerous nephews and nieces and their families.

She was also predeceased by her siblings, Kathryn Poulson, Grace Bressler, Beth Allen, and Don Ahern; daughter-in-law Lillian Tanner Smith of Wilton, and infant grandson Jonathan Smith.

Daisy’s kindness and grace will be remembered by all who knew her, and her life-well-lived will serve as an example to generations of the family she nurtured with infinite generosity and love.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, a private interment will be held at Bald Hill Cemetery on October 17 ^th . The graveside service will be posted on the Facebook page of  the Raymond Funeral Home in Historic Norwalk, with Rev. Dr. Anne Coffman of Wilton Congregational Church officiating.

Contributions in Daisy Smith’s memory may be made to the Connecticut Food Bank.

• To donate online ( https://www.ctfoodbank.org/ ): designate "Daisy Smith" as "Honoree” and indicate that the family be notified at daisysmithmemorial@gmail.com .

• By mail : Send check to CT Food Bank, 2 Research Parkway, Wallingford, CT 06492.  Ask that Daisy’s family be notified either via email ( daisysmithmemorial@gmail.com ) or card to: Smith Family, 25 Lovers Lane, Wilton CT 06897.

• By credit card : call 203-469-5000.

Please visit www.norwalkfh.com to access our Facebook link.