Dr. Mabel Dunkirk Smith, a revered figure in the Lakeway Region’s music, church, education and theater communities, died on November 21 in Bethesda, MD, where she had been living with her daughter since 2022. The cause of death was congestive heart failure. She was 98.

Born in Newark, NJ., on December 30, 1926, Mabel’s parents divorced when she was young leaving her and her elder brother, Carl, in her mother’s and grandparents’ care in New York City. Her mother, Belle Arthur Lasker, died a few years later. Mabel and her brother were sent to a state children’s home on Governor’s Island in the East River. Her aunt and uncle, Mabel and Adrian Dunkirk took the siblings home with them to New Jersey as soon as they could and later adopted Smith.

A talented student and singer, Mabel attended Westminster Choir College where she was a member of the renowned Westminster Choir and met and married fellow student S. David Smith in 1950.

After their graduation, the Smiths moved to Buis Creek, NC., where S. David chaired the Campbell College music department, and both led church music ministries and started their family. In 1955, they moved to Jefferson City, TN., and joined the faculty at Carson-Newman College. There Mabel assumed the Minister of Music position at the First Presbyterian Church and then at the First Congressional Church in Knoxville.

In 1964, a final move brought the family to Morristown. Mabel was hired as music teacher and choir director at Morristown High School, directed the annual Kiwanis Kapers musical revue and several Theater Guild productions and performed throughout the region over the years. In 1970, she was named professor of music at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN. For 20 years, she taught music and voice, led the choir and produced an annual musical starring her students and members of the community. Taking sabbaticals from their LMU jobs when they were in their 50s, they headed to the University of Colorado at Boulder to earn doctorates.

In 2006, the Dr. Mabel D. Smith Music Resource Center at LMU was dedicated with the support of a generous donation by another former student, Rod Keen.

The Smiths were active and adventurous, sometimes seeing the world in unconventional ways. They were seasoned cyclists who biked all over Europe before riding across the country for S. David’s 50th high school reunion, covering more than 2,300 miles. Even after S. David’s passing, Mabel remained an avid biker and hiker. She completed the 500-mile Camino de Santiago de Compostela walk across Spain at the age 92.

Mabel was a founding member of Encore Theatrical Company in Morristown in 2007. She built and painted sets as well as performed regularly in Encore productions.

Mabel was predeceased by her husband S. David Smith in 2003, her parents Belle Arthur Lasker and Charles Lasker; her brother Carl Lasker, her aunt Mabel Arthur Dunkirk and uncle Adrian Dunkirk. Survivors are her son David B. Smith (DeNette); daughter Katherine N. Smith (Alan C. Miller); grandchildren David A. Smith; Doniel Smith (David Lafitte) and Julia S. Miller and great-granddaughter Lyla Loukia Siskos.

A celebration of Mabel’s life will be held at 1 pm to 5:30 pm on May 2, at First Presbyterian Church, 600 W. Main St., in Morristown. It will include Mabel’s talented friends. Colorful attire is requested.

In Mabel’s honor, donations can be made to Encore Theatrical Company via Venmo @Encore-Theatrical-2006; Walters State Community College S. David and Mabel D. Smith Endowment for the Performing Arts, and the Lincoln Memorial Dr. Mabel D. Smith Endowed Music Scholarship.