Dolores Smith

Dolores "Lolin" Alexandra Faerber Smith, 97, of Madison, died Tuesday, October 15th.

Dolores was born in Puerto Rico to Dolores "Lolo" Marrero Denis and Alexander John Faerber, and moved to the United States as a young girl. She spent her early life in Philadelphia and then New York City where she attended Washington Irving High School and graduated from Hunter College. After graduation, she returned to Puerto Rico where she worked as a teacher for several years before coming back to the United States to continue her teaching career, eventually completing a Master of Arts in Education at New York University. In her middle years she relocated to Pennsylvania where she taught at what is now East Stroudsburg University. In her early retirement she lived in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and for the last years of her life she made her home in Madison, Wisconsin where she worked as a volunteer tutor and initiated a desktop publishing project to preserve the life stories of senior citizens. She traveled throughout North and South America, Europe and the Mediterranean, spoke several languages, found delight in cultural diversity, and was an avid student of world history and literature. She was an animal lover to the end of her days and honored the connectedness of all living things.

Dolores is survived by her daughter, Dolores "Jackie" Austin and her companion Tillman Morris, by her daughters-in-law Laurie Jacobson Helffrich and Jeri McBurney Rogers, by son-in-law Glenn Heath Austin, by her three grandsons, Glenn Loos-Austin (wife Liana), Preston Austin (wife Julie Gorski), and Jeffrey Helffrich (wife Michelle), by her two great granddaughters Ivy Marie Loos-Austin and Rose Dolores Loos-Austin. Dolores is also survived by her cousins, her nephew, nieces and their children, and by many friends and caregivers.

Lolin was preceded in death by her second husband Ralph Smith, by her son Richard Helffrich, by her infant daughter Clara, by her sister Anna Santangelo, and by her first husband Stockton Helffrich.

In keeping with her wishes, final arrangements were handled by Informed Choice Funeral and Cremation Alternatives, and there will be no public visitation or funeral. A private family gathering will celebrate her life. As a life-long educator, it was Dolores's firm conviction that our efforts should be spent nurturing today's children in order to build strong foundations for the future. Accordingly, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Youth Ministry of Lakeview Lutheran Church, Madison where she was a member, or to the children's mentoring programs of the Madison-area Urban Ministry.