Barbara Taylor Griffith-Smith

February 27, 1932 – August 30, 2024

Barbara T. Griffith-Smith passed away on August 30, 2024. Born on February 27, 1932, in South Bend, Ind., she was a teacher, friend, wife, and mother. She is survived by three daughters – Cynthia Renshaw (Mark), Kelley Rogers (Tom), and Ann Gaspelin (Bill). Barbara was grandmother to Zach, Alex, and Erin Renshaw, Brandon and Melissa Rogers, and Nick and Brad Gaspelin. She was fortunate enough to meet great-grandchildren, Ella, Grace, Aubrey, Paige, Elaine, and Avinash.

Barbara graduated John Adams H.S. in South Bend in 1950. She was an Alpha Phi at Indiana University and after earning a B.S. in Speech Therapy, she married a young Air Force pilot, Richard (Dick) Griffith in August 1954. Together they moved to Otis Air Force base in Falmouth, Mass. She started a Speech and Hearing program for Falmouth schools while her husband flew F-94s until 1956. The couple moved back to Purdue married housing and had their first daughter while Dick finished his college degree.

Barbara and Dick had their two remaining daughters in Michigan and Indiana. They moved to Indianapolis where she worked as a Speech and Hearing Therapist in Greenfield Schools and as a private tutor. She also was a Girl Scout leader, school room mother, and was a member of the St. Alban’s Altar Guild. Once they finally relocated to Carmel, Barbara went to Butler University to earn her Masters in Special Education when the girls were in high school. She then served as a Special Education Resource teacher in the Hamilton Southeastern school system for 24 years. Barbara and Dick traveled the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska. Perhaps one of the bravest things she did was to spend a month traveling the West with their three teenage daughters camping in a motor home!

After Dick died in 1985, Barbara eventually met and married her second husband, Edwin Smith. The two moved to Bradenton, Fla., once Barbara retired. She worked on the Mt. Vernon neighborhood association board and volunteered for a variety of organizations such as voter registration, Indiana University alumni association, and her Episcopal Church of the Annunciation on Anna Maria Island. She loved walking, water aerobics, reading, crossword puzzles, and watching her beloved Indiana Hoosiers play football and basketball. Well into her 91^st year, she still watched the annual Indianapolis 500 where she and her extended family talked by phone to predict the winning race car driver.

Barbara was an only child and was preceded in death by her parents Clayton and Mary (Molnar) Taylor, her two husbands, Richard Griffith and Ed Smith, and her grandson Zachary Renshaw.

The family would like to thank Heartland Hospice and Kingston Memory Care in Fort Wayne, Ind., for the care and compassion they showed our loved one in her final days. There will be a private family memorial service graveside at Oaklawn Memorial Gardens, Fishers.

Please consider donating in her honor to: Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium, ATTN: Development Office, 1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy., Sarasota, FL 34236, (941) 388-4441; mote.org.