Lida Ann (Mikos) Smith, loved to dance

Lida Ann (Mikos) Smith, 85, of Dover joined the Lord Thursday, Aug. 19, 2021. Lida was a sweet, wise, kind, loving and funny woman. She was born in 1935, in Manhattan, N.Y., the first child of Anna Czestochowski and Theodore Mikos, an expert mason who worked on many of NYC’s iconic buildings. Her brother Edward was born seven years later.
Lida loved life. She danced in the big parades on Fifth Avenue as part of her Polish Community's Youth Club. Later, she marched in the same parades in the Fife Corps. She fondly remembered summers on a farm near Blairstown, N.J., where her extended family went every year to escape the heat of Manhattan’s concrete jungle.
Lida was president of her high school class. She graduated from the Baruch School of Business, City College of New York, with an international business degree. After college, she and four girlfriends vacationed on Cape Cod. They were invited to the opening of a new Air Force Officer’s Club. It was there she met the love of her life, Lt. Kenneth Smith. The two enjoyed 62-plus years of wedded bliss. They spent their honeymoon years in Texas, and added children as they traveled the globe.
Lida and family moved to Dover in 1966. Over the ensuing years, she dedicated tens of thousands of volunteer hours to numerous organizations: Holy Cross Church and School, the Knights of Columbus, the Columbiettes, the Dover Air Force Base Retiree Office, and the Red Hatters. She was her husband’s “right hand man” as he rose in the ranks of the Knights of Columbus to the pinnacle of leading the entire state. She was inspiration to all!
Lida was preceded in death by her parents, Anna and Theodore Mikos; by her brother Edward; and by her daughter Kathleen. She is survived by her husband retired Lt. Col. Kenneth Smith; daughter Beth Ann Knight (Patrick and son Matthew); sons Kenneth (Pei and son Vincent), Michael, Andrew (Denise), and Mark.
Visitation will be Wednesday, Aug. 25, 6 to 8 p.m., at The Funeral Home of Michael J. Ambruso, 1175 S. State St. Dover. Mass of Christian Burial will be offered Thursday, Aug. 26, 10 a.m., at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Dover.
Interment will be in Holy Cross Cemetery, Dover.

Memorial donations may be made to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 185 Salem Church Road, Newark, DE 19713. Condolences may be made via www.ambruso.com.