Madlyn Renee Smith (nee Fernicola) died peacefully in her bed at The Village in White River Junction on April 16, 2021. She was born in Trenton, New Jersey on September 24, 1929, the only child of Eva Patricelli D'Agostino Fernicola and Arthur Fernicola.

Madlyn spent her childhood in Trenton surrounded by a large family of aunts and uncles and cousins who all lived close by and ran local businesses. She was particularly influenced and inspired by her Aunt Josephine's women's dress shop. Aunt Joey was a beloved second mother to Madlyn and JoAnne's Dress Shop served as a woman's salon in addition to being a house of fashion. Madlyn remained very close to her New Jersey family throughout her life. She made frequent trips to Trenton and occasional trips to the Abruzzo region of Italy where her mother was born and where her cousins, the Partricelli's, lived in Francavilla al Mare.

Madlyn attended an all-girls private Catholic elementary school, Villa Victoria Academy, in Ewing Township, New Jersey and graduated from Trenton High School, where she was an excellent student. She met her husband, William M. Smith, when she was working at the Nassau Street Pharmacy, in Princeton, NJ. He was a graduate student in psychology at Princeton University and came to the drugstore to buy soap. Bill, a straight- shooting guy from Zanesville, Ohio, was immediately taken by this raven-haired beauty and they embarked upon a lifelong union together from that day forward.

They were married in the Princeton University Chapel and Madlyn, a skilled seamstress, designed and sewed her own wedding dress. In Princeton they lived in old army barracks while they raised collie dogs and Bill finished his PhD and worked as an assistant professor. They lived in Belgium for a year when Bill received a Fulbright scholarship and then he accepted a faculty position at Dartmouth College teaching in the psychology department. He became a full professor in 1962 and later did stints as Chairman of the Department and Dean of the Social Sciences.

Madlyn loved being the wife of a professor and was a superb, memorable hostess for the many parties they hosted over the years. She was an excellent cook and was famous for her biscotti, meatballs, chicken cutlets (her mother's recipe), homemade pasta, and her brown sugar ribs. Her table settings were works of art and she had the gift of making all her guests feel welcome and comfortable. She was intensely curious and interested in everyone's life and always felt compelled to help others. She had friends of all ages and served as a Mother figure to many and loved to serve up her biscotti, Lillet, tea and wise counsel.

Madlyn was generous to everyone, grateful for her life, loyal and lively, but most of all Madlyn had an amazing sense of humor; she had a gift for finding the humor in any situation. Sometimes she could be wickedly funny and you would gasp but you would still laugh. She was unrelentingly upbeat, always optimistic and would insist that you run to the window to see the beautiful sunset, no matter how many times you had seen a beautiful sunset.

She loved and appreciated art in many forms from the exalted Masters at the many museums she visited in her life to the unsigned watercolor she discovered at a yard sale. Madlyn was a regular attendee at William Smith auctions (no relation!), had an eagle eye for beautiful, unusual objects and amassed a collection of American Art Pottery, Pyrography, many dishes, silver pieces, quilts and quirky objects d'art. She was a lover of flea markets, antique stores and believed it was a sin to pay retail. Her long hours spent at her Aunt's dress shop, her Grandparent's grocery store and her Uncle's Men's clothing store had made an indelible impression.

She loved books and was a devoted member of Howe Library. In particular she devoured biographies. She loved to travel and made many trips with Bill (and later with Bill and their only child Marisa) to Italy and Europe and was always planning the next adventure. One of her favorite trips was one of her last: her trip to Italy with her dear first cousins Jody Hastings and Deborah Krulewitch.

She was an avid theatergoer and often went to Boston and New York with her daughter in tow to see shows. Madlyn's mother Eva had taken Madlyn to see Laurette Taylor play Amanda Wingfield in the 1946 production of The Glass Menagerie, a performance that is often described as one of the greatest performances of all time. Madlyn always said that she wanted to "come back" as an actress or a singer and she did get her wish to some extent when she appeared in the North Country Community theater production of Cabaret, as Fraulien Schneider, an experience that was one of the highlights of her life.

Madlyn was fearless and welcoming in terms of relating to people in that she recognized we all share a common humanity. She was not intimidated by station, status or degrees. One morning, while in London, she learned that Vivian Leigh (one of her favorite actresses) had died and there was going to be a service for her at St. Martin in the Fields that afternoon. Madlyn donned an enormous hat, a large pair of sunglasses, grabbed a hankie and appeared on the steps of St. Martins quietly weeping and…. was let into the service.

While happily fulfilling her roles as wife, mother, pet owner, and frequent hostess, Madlyn found time to sell real estate, and was one of the founders of the West Lebanon Planned Parenthood now located in White River. She also served for years on the Board of NCCT and was a volunteer at Headstart. She had a wide circle of friends to whom she was devoted and she was utterly devoted to her daughter Marisa and her beloved grandsons Luke and Peter Kraus. Thankfully she was able to meet her great-grandson Benjamin William Kraus, age 2 and half, and saw photos of her granddaughter Annelise Mary Kraus, born in February 2021.

Her husband predeceased her (in 2009) as did "The Gang of Four," her four close friends that met regularly for decades: Susan Wood, Sybil Williamson, Drewry Logan and Trudy Daley.

She leaves her daughter, Marisa Smith, of West Lebanon, NH; her grandson Luke Kraus, his wife Caroline, their children Benjamin and Annelise Kraus,and dog Teddy of San Antonio, Texas; her grandson Peter, his girlfriend Halle Lucas and their dog Prince of Los Angeles, California.

There will be graveside service at Pine Knoll Cemetery in Hanover and a celebration of Madlyn's life at her home this July.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Lucy Mackenzie Humane Society, P.O. Box 702
Brownsville, VT 05037