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Melinda Elizabeth Tromblay Smith, 61, died June 24, 2016, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio after a 21-year battle with breast cancer.
She was surrounded by her extended family all expressing their love to their mother, daughter and oldest sister.
She is survived by her husband of 41 years, Rickey “Rick” Eugene Smith and their three daughters, Amanda Smith (Renee) Richter of Las Vegas and Mariah and Rachel Smith of Cincinnati.
Born at Ft. Lawton Army Hospital in Seattle, Washington on March 18, 1955, to U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant James J. Tromblay and Linda Landry Tromblay, who survive in Bellefontaine.
The family moved to Anchorage, Alaska, Clovis, N.M., Biloxi, Miss., Stanwood, Wash., and Bellefontaine, where Melinda graduated from Bellefontaine High School in 1973.
She attended the Dayton Art Institute from 1973 to 1975 before it closed and where she and Rick met. They married May 10, 1975, in Bellefontaine, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church and the couple moved to Deerfield Beach and Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., for one year. They returned to Dayton where Melinda took a job typing book manuscripts for a publisher.
Their daughter Amanda was born in Dayton before the family moved to Cincinnati, where their daughters Mariah and Rachel were born. Melinda worked for many years for AT&T as a graphic designer, and she gained her degree in technical writing from Cincinnati State in 2000. She was a published Internet author, and in 1995 began a home-based business, which she continued to operate until her health deteriorated earlier this year.
Melinda was active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Cincinnati. She shared her love of cooking with her husband and was an avid reader, artist and needleworker. She enjoyed traveling with her family when her health permitted. She especially loved family, friends and hosting holiday gatherings.
In addition to her parents and husband, she is survived by her sisters, Michele and Suzanne Tromblay of Cincinnati, Yvonne Tromblay (Chuck) Elias of Tulsa, Okla., and their daughter Adrienne and son Stephen of Oklahoma City, and Jean-Marie Tromblay Arelt of Beavercreek, and her son, Paul of Cincinnati; brothers Joseph Tromblay of Pineville, N.C., Jeffrey Tromblay and his son David of Cincinnati, and John (Shelley) Tromblay of Liberty Township and their daughter, Kirsten; and special aunt and uncle, Emmalie and Larry Silvester of Coral Gables, Florida.
A funeral mass will be held at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, 730 Derby Ave., in Spring Grove Village, Cincinnati, at 6 p.m. Friday, July 22. The business address or locating with GPS is 740 Circle Ave.
A reception will be held at the annex building behind the church following the funeral. The family requests contributions for outstanding medical expenses or donations toward cancer research.