Jacqueline V. Smith

Jacqueline “Jackie” Virginie Smith (nee Guillaume) stepped peacefully into the heavenly arms of her loving husband Martin on June 18, 2025, enveloped by the love, tears, and gentle touches of her family. Jackie had faced and defeated many health challenges in her 98 years, but a stroke three days earlier was one that her mental toughness and physical fortitude could not overcome. Born on July 8, 1926, in Bar-le-Duc, Meuse, France, Jackie helped raise three younger brothers while still a child herself. As a teenager, Jackie was a member of the WWII French Resistance. She could break down and clean munitions with expert speed, and delivered explosives to her compatriots by concealing dynamite sticks in her bike handlebars, pedaling right past Nazi occupiers. She cried with joy the day American soldiers liberated her village. An excellent student, she took a government job after the war at the Préfecture de Bar-le-Duc. That is where she met the love of her life when he stepped up to her window to apply for motorcycle license plates. After a long courtship, they were married in 1951 and began their life adventure together by risking everything on a boat ride across the Atlantic. During some lean years in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Jackie and Martin started a family there with two daughters. The young family moved to Tolleston (Gary, Indiana) in 1956, to Merrillville in 1960, became U.S. citizens in 1961, and then in 1978 moved to their final home in Lakes of the Four Seasons. Since the loss of her best friend and husband in 2023, Jackie lived independently at home until the day of her stroke. Jackie had numerous creative talents. An excellent cook, baker, canner, seamstress, and gardener, her greatest joy was creating grand holiday dinners for family gatherings around her table. She and Martin traveled to Europe for family visits, and loved roaming wherever a weekend drive would take them, including local casinos where she almost always came home a winner. She and Martin provided a stable, warm, and joyful home for grandchildren, extended family, and friends. Jacqueline leaves behind loving daughters Rosemary Kusmiz-Brunette and Jackie (Cory, devoted son-in-law and best buddy) Webster, and a legacy of love and hope through her grandchildren – Michelle Pappas, Cortney Gulleson, Nathan (Jessica) Kusmiz, Molly Kusmiz, Noelle (Aaron) Webster-Milam, Alexandra (Chris) Mislan – and great-grandchildren Ezekiel Mislan, Graysen Milam, Samantha Mislan, and Summer Kusmiz. She will be missed by brother Rene (Laura) Guillaume of Detroit, brother Manu Guillaume of Bar-le-Duc, and nieces and nephews in the U.S. and France, as well as extended family, in-laws, friends and neighbors who adored her. She was preceded in death by the husband she missed so greatly, Martin Smith, as well as by mother Blanche Alice (Guillaume) Reveillez, brothers Pierre (Annie) Guillaume and Raymond (Andre) Guillaume, great-grandson Jalen Sena Pappas, and dear great-grandchildren in heaven. In lieu of flowers, donations are requested to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital or Fried’s Cat Shelter in Michigan City. Memorial visitation will take place at Burns Funeral Home, 10101 Broadway, Crown Point, on July 8 on what would have been Jackie’s 99th birthday, from 1 pm until the Celebration of Life ceremony at 3 pm. Chaplain Kristin Conrad officiating. www.burnsfuneral.com

Jacqueline V. Smith

July 8, 1926 - June 18, 2025