Obituary of Victoria Lee Smith

Victoria Lee Smith: Baltimore native, humanitarian, registered nurse, wife, mother, world traveler and ballerina, died on September 16, 2025. She was 94 years old. Born in 1931 in Baltimore, Md. to Turner and Margaret Lee Lancaster, Victoria was one of six children. She is survived by her brother Charles and sister Paula. Victoria graduated from Frederick Douglass High School in 1949 and St. Agnes School for Nursing at St. Augustine College in Raleigh, NC in 1952. Later, in the 1970s, she earned a bachelor's and master's degrees in human services and nursing from the University of Detroit. In her 20s, she met and married Charles Thomas Smith (died in 1980). The couple had two sons, Victor and Karl (m. Odilia Smith), and she had a stepdaughter, Starita. Eventually, she became the matriarch of a family of four grandchildren: Mayerly Mandela Salazar Smith, Zafira Cassandra Salazar Smith (children of Karl and Odilia), Emory Khari Rollins and Evan (Kae 'Leen) Masud Williams (children of Starita); and four great-grandchildren, Aveon Khari Rollins and Malachi Masud, Sela Nelani, and Esai Williams; as well as 23 nieces and nephews. She often visited relatives, even as far away as Kuwait, to nurse them when they were ill. Working to share her skills, compassion, and courage with people in distress became the focus of her professional life. Victoria did multiple kinds of nursing work in Ohio, California, and Michigan. She worked for years in the Red Cross national disaster relief program. She responded to disasters in Texas, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, and the Northwest Airlines plane crash in Detroit in 1987. As a retiree, Victoria joined the Peace Corps where she taught first aid and English in Costa Rica during her first tour of duty. A second stint in the Corps took her to Malawi. During this tour of duty, she witnessed the 1994 Rwandan genocide. She worked in Camp Burigi, a refugee camp for Tutsis in Tanzania operated by the International Rescue Committee. After retirement, Victoria volunteered at the children's library at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She completed 1,700 hours of service there by about 2000. She also devoted much time and energy to the Maryland Griot Storytellers and often told stories about her adventures in Africa, love stories and the people she knew throughout her life. She was a lifetime member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. Nursing was not her only passion. As a child, Victoria studied ballet. She opened her own ballet school for children in Detroit from 1966 to 1969. She loved classical music and opera and was a season ticket holder for the New York Metropolitan Opera. She traveled the world her whole life, visiting more than 16 countries in Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Home base was Baltimore where she loved walking, covering several miles on daily walks well into her 80s. There will be a public viewing at 3:30 - 4:30 p.m., Friday, October 3, 2025 at Vaughn Greene Funeral Services, 4905 York Road. There will be a wake at 10 a.m., Saturday, October 4, 2025 and a funeral service to follow at 10:30 a.m. at Ark Church, 1263 East North Ave. The Rev. Bishop Carter will officiate.