Nancy Conner Smythe

Nancy Conner Smythe, widow of Augustine Thomas Smythe, daughter of the low country, died Sunday, November 11, 2012, at the age of 83. She was remarkably heartfelt, vivacious, curious and interested, adventurous, creative, artistic, full of joy and laughter, and a free spirit that defied most boundaries. She painted, sculpted, wrote poetry, renovated buildings, served on boards, volunteered, raised 4 children, and enjoyed life immensely. Her serious interests and commitment included her family, environmental concerns, promotion of the arts, the welfare of the disenfranchised, and her personal spiritual path. Although a lifelong and faithful member of the Episcopal Church, she loved exploring the religious world and opening her heart and mind to embrace all paths. As the wife of Austin Smythe, a local lawyer and member of the American Bar Board of Governors, Nancy had the opportunity to travel extensively, and she loved the adventure of new places and new people. Her deepest love, though, was the low country, and sitting on a dock, enjoying the sight of birds, the rush of the wind, or sitting in a duck blind for hours of silence, or collecting shells on the beach. Very social with a throng of friends, some of them very near and dear to her heart, her deep love of nature was paramount in her life, and something she shared with her husband Aussie and which helped hold her steady through life's many challenges and joys. For the many years of child-rearing, the family usually found themselves every week-end in the low-country or on the water. Born Nancy Conner on November 20, 1928, to Mary Gregg Chisolm Conner and James Conner, she had a brother Henry Workman Conner who predeceased her. She is survived by her daughter Mary Gregg Chisolm Smythe and her husband George W. Arana, daughter Martha Allston Smythe and her husband Manuel Alonso-Martinez, daughter Caroline Conner Smythe and her husband D. Archibald McCallum, and son Augustine Thomas Smythe and his wife Eleanor Barefoot Smythe; grandchildren Manuel Agustin Alonso-Martinez, Catalina Juliana Alonso-Martinez, May Conner McCallum, Sophia Smythe McCallum, Augustine Thomas Smythe, Isabelle Mauze Smythe. The relatives and friends of Nancy Conner Smythe are invited to attend her Funeral Service at 3:00 PM Friday, November 16, 2012, at St. Michael's Episcopal Church. Interment, Second Presbyterian Churchyard. In Lieu of flowers please make memorial contributions to the Augustine T. Smythe Endowment c/o Coastal Community Foundation 635 Rutledge Ave. Suite 201, Charleston, SC 29403. Her Guestbook may be signed at www.jamesamcalister.com Arrangements by JAMES A. MCALISTER Funerals & Cremation 766-1365.