PLAINS – Maria De Jesus Smith, age 50, passed away Friday, June 24, 2022, at Juarez, Mexico, as a result of an automobile accident.

She was born June 9, 1972, at Penon Blanco, Durango, Mexico, the daughter of Ruben Jimenez and Gualalupe Meraz. As a young girl, she was raised in Mexico, moving to the Kismet-Plains are in 1990, she worked in the cafeteria, as well as a translator for Southwestern Heights High School for many years.

She was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic Church, Plains. She enjoyed sewing, crocheting, cooking, raising various plants, singing, dancing, caring for community members, and spending time with her family and friends.

In 1990, she married Ronald Smith, Jr. at Kismet, Kansas. He survives.

Other survivors include four sons, Ernesto Smith, Ivan Smith, Dylan Smith, and Samuel Smith all of Plains, Kansas; three daughters, Jacquelyn Smith of Manhattan, Kansas, Kylie Smith and Ivy Smith, both of Plains; six brothers, Sergio Enrique, Juan Pedro, Jose Alfredo, Omar, Roberto, and Julio Cesar; three sisters, Luz Maria, Blanca Rocio, and Briseida; and five grandchildren, Kierra, Adrian, Eduardo, Anae, and Mila.

Vigil services will be held at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, June 30, 2022, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Holy Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. Friday, July 1, 2022, at the church. Interment will follow in the Plains Cemetery. The casket will remain closed. Fidler-Orme-Bachman Mortuary, Meade, has been entrusted with arrangements.