Jeannine Lee Smith passed away peacefully at her home in Chula Vista, California on March 29, 2025. She was 94 years old.

She was born on February 12, 1931, in Des Moines, Iowa to Jane (Russell) DeCoss and Luther H. Lee. As a young woman she met Lawrence P. Fick in Missoula, Montana, and shortly there after they married and moved to Oak Harbor, settling in a home in the Penn Cove Park neighborhood a few miles from town. They had three children, Morgan, Matt, and Mark.

Larry passed away in 1968, when the three children were pre-teens. During those years Jeannine was active in the Democratic Party on Whidbey Island, serving as Precinct committeeman, voter registrar, poll worker, and co-Chair of the 1972 Democratic Presidential campaign inOakHarbor. She also worked hard maintaining and managing a few rental homes that Larry, a real estate broker, had purchased during his career in Oak Harbor. Although she was delighted when she finally sold those homes, she did enjoy meeting and getting to know the young Navy families that typically rented them.

After losing Larry, Jeannine made sure that the family home in Penn Cove continued to be loving, warm, and welcoming. She had a particular way of making her kids’ friends feel comfortable at her house, with the result that many of them have fond memories of summer evenings spent there playing pinochle and canasta, hanging out at the beach, and having frequent conversations about the political issues of the day.

In 1973 Jeannine married Charles R. Smith, a career-Navy electronics technician. Their Navy moves included San Diego, California; Great Lakes, Illinois; and then back to San Diego, where they stayed after Charles retired as a Master Chief after almost 30 years in the Navy. They were happy and devoted to each other during their marriage of over 51 years.

In 2013, Jeannine’s beloved daughter Morgan was killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. That tragic event has had a lasting and painful impact on the entire family. Shortly after Morgan was killed, it was Jeannine’s idea to establish the Morgan Fick Williams Scholarship Fund; this fund provides an annual scholarship to college-bound graduates of Oak Harbor High School, where Morgan, a proud member of the OHHS Class of 1973, had been Student Body President.

In addition to her parents, her husband Larry, and her daughter Morgan, Jeannine was preceded in death by her son Mark, her step-daughter Maggie LaRue, and her sisters, Marilyn Mayfield and Janet Dutrow. She is survived by her husband, Charles R. Smith; her son, Matt (Jan); her five grandchildren, Morgan LaRue (Elizabeth Spurlock), Erin Kinch (Jarren), Jon Williams (Bailey Stuvland), Maggie Fick (Sefik Bagdadioglu), and Charles Fick (Julia Cunningham); her eight great-grandchildren; her sons-in-law Andre LaRue and Greg Williams, and daughter-in-law Michelle Fick; and her sister Ruthanne Mathews and brother Tom Lee (Jo).

In keeping with her wishes, no services are planned. Donations in her memory can be made to the Morgan Fick Williams Scholarship Fund, c/o Matthew Fick, 271 Wyatt Way NE, Ste. 106, Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110.