Joan A. Smith

On January 3 ^rd , 2022, The Lord called Joan Adah Smith home at the age of 95. She passed away peacefully in her sleep. Born in Chicago on September 23 ^rd , 1926, she was the youngest daughter of Arthur and Inez Burkhard.

Joan is survived by her three children, Todd, Drew, and Jill; daughter-in-law Kim Smith, four grandchildren with two spouses, Stephanie and Steven Sistrunk, Blake and Kathy Smith, Kirsten and Brian, and five great-grandchildren.

For 75 years, Joan shared an incredible loving relationship with her pre-deceased husband, Homer Smith, who she always called "Smitty." Married in 1945 after Smitty's honorable discharge from the Army Air Force, Joan and Smitty embarked on their amazing journey together, beginning in Albuquerque New Mexico where she worked to help put her husband through engineering school at the University of New Mexico. After a few years they moved back to the Chicago area where they built a house and family in Homewood. She brought her love of Southwestern cuisine with her and made some of the best tacos and enchiladas on the planet!

It's funny how people get nicknames. For Joan Adah (Burkhard) Smith, the nickname "Queen" was given to her by fellow volunteers within one of the many committees on which she served at Flossmoor Community Church. They lovingly referred to her as "Your Majesty," and Joan always got the biggest kick out of it and laughed out loud when hearing the humorous moniker. Joan was an active member of the church for decades.

Joan was certainly the Queen of her domain as a woman who cherished hosting parties, bridge nights, and impromptu get togethers. She loved to open her home to friends and family on any occasion, or no occasion at all! Joan learned to play golf and she and Smitty and their friends took many golf trips over the years. One of her favorite activities was playing Friday Twilight golf with Smitty at Calumet Country Club. She helped organize a social group called SIPs, an acronym for Society of Intellectual Pursuits. Joan had that special gift of making everyone feel welcome and loved, through her endless empathy and magnetic personality.

Joan was a graduate of Hirsch High School in Chicago and attended Knox College for a year as a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. She absolutely loved her time at Knox and throughout her adult life, when she viewed a crescent moon in the sky, would quip, "It's a Tri-Delt Moon." During her high school days, Joan worked at Marshall Field's department store in downtown Chicago. She worked in the women's shoe department and after being "discovered" by one of the store managers, they asked her to work as a runway model in the store on several occasions.

Private family Interment at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers the family asks you to please consider making a donation to Flossmoor Community Church , Alzheimer's Foundation of America , or South Suburban Humane Society .