Mary Virginia (Hierholzer) Smith

Mary Virginia Hierholzer Smith, age 97, went home to her God and Maker on 13 October 2025 at the Blue Palms Senior Living Center in Deland, Florida.

Mary Virginia was the first-born of Cathrine P. and Leo N. Hierholzer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was the oldest of eight children - five sisters and two brothers. When she was eleven years old, the family moved to Eustis, Florida, and five years later the family moved to Lakeland, Florida. Mary Virginia graduated from Lakeland High School in 1948.

After working in various shops in the Lakeland area, she married Robert Bell and moved to Treasure Island, Florida then to Brooksville, Florida. She worked in a nursing home, and then a veterinary clinic. Mary Virginia retired from the Brooksville Veterinary Clinic in June of 1990. During her working years, she was also a busy volunteer with the Veterans' Outpatient Clinic in St. Petersburg, Florida, and the Heritage Museum, the Art Gallery, Head Start, and the Hernando County Recreation Department, all in Brooksville.

She was very active in local grass-root theaters, square dancing, ballet, and raising dogs. Mary Virginia was an avid dog lover from an early age; she trained and showed pedigreed dogs in the Brooksville and Treasure Island areas. Her days centered around dogs and other small animals. Mary Virginia remarried to Robert L. Smith in her home in Brooksville, Florida. She had no children from either marriage.

In 2014, Mary Virginia moved to DeLand, Florida, where she resided happily with her husband, Robert. They had no children of their own, but Robert was previously married in Ohio and had children from that marriage. He was a U.S. Navy WWII veteran and worked for U.S. Steel Company in Lorain, Ohio as an electrician. Robert passed away on 27 November 2020.

Mary Virginia is survived by Edward L. Hierholzer of Orlando, Florida, Mary Agnes Hierholzer of Toledo, Ohio, John C. Hierholzer of Terrell, North Carolina, and Mary Lee Hierholzer Specht of Eustis, Florida.

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