Murphys, CA…Surrounded by several of her loving family members, Colleen L. Smart passed away peacefully on December 1, 2015 following a brief illness. Born on September 17, 1925 to Lloyd (Richard) and Grace Looney, Colleen spent her early years in the town of her birth, Turlock, California. Caught in the depths of the Great Depression, the family moved to Merced, California where work opportunities were more prevalent and where extended family members could provide added support to the family. Although the family struggled, Colleen often remembered that what were then called “hobos” would come from the nearby rail yard to the family home’s back gate and ask for scraps of food. Collen remembered her mother offering a buttered biscuit more often than not..

Colleen was predeceased by her husband, Elliott A. Smart in October, 2007. She is survived by her six children, Elliott (Jody) of Quincy, CA, Randall (Kathleen) of Murphys, David (Maria) of Davis CA, John (Diane) of Boulder, CO, Sally Kester (Casey) of Murphys and Lori Skevington (Terry) of Yuba City, CA. She is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 1 great grandchild.

Colleen was born to a family of fiddlers. Her grandfather, uncles and cousins frequently served as the players and callers at barn dances and other events both in Kentucky and in the Sacramento/San Joaquin valley. So it was that at an early age Colleen also took up the violin, first learning to play by ear and by watching family members. Later, as a teen, she learned to read music and developed a life-long passion for the instrument.

After graduating from high school, Colleen moved to Stockton, CA, to attend college. She was the first in her family to do so. It was while attending college that she learned the College of the Pacific orchestra needed a viola, so she learned to play viola in addition to her beloved violin. It was there that she met and became friends with Joanne Smart (Baldwin) of Murphys, CA who was also a student, studying music. Joanne introduced Colleen to her older brother Elliott, a Navy veteran of WWII, who was attending UC Berkeley. The two soon fell in love and were married in the Congregational Church in Murphys, CA on September 10, 1948. The marriage was duly noted in Herb Caen’s San Francisco Chronicle column under the heading, “Looney gets Smart”.

Elliott re-entered the uniformed service in the US Air Force while still in college. His postings took Colleen and their young family to Germany, Minneapolis, and Travis AFB in California and San Antonio, Texas. During their travels Colleen purchased many hand-crafted items, much of which was displayed at her home. In 1967, When Elliott learned he would be assigned to Cam Rahn Bay during the Vietnam conflict, Colleen took her family, now numbering six children, to Murphys, CA where Elliott’s family roots had been long established.

Following retirement from the Air Force, Colleen and Elliott moved to their newly built home near Murphys. Here, Colleen began her second career (raising her family was the first) working in the medical field.

It was at this time that Colleen became active in the community, specifically in activities and programs that supported the provision of health care to the communities of Calaveras County. She also took part in promoting music and the arts. She served for nearly thirty years on the Mark Twain Health Care District Board and was the Board’s president for over twenty years. She was a founding member of the Mark Twain Medical Center Foundation that has a significant history of direct support for improving and expanding community health and the Mark Twain Medical Center. Colleen was also a member of the Calaveras Arts Council, Bear Valley Music Festival, Mother Lode Youth Symphony and others. In February, 2013 she received a Golden Health Award honoring her for contributions to improving the health of Calaveras citizens.

In addition to her work on health care and promoting the arts, Colleen’s passion through her life remained her family and her violin. She would look forward to holidays and other reasons for the family to gather at her home. She played in a number of symphony orchestras (from Sacramento to the Sierras), string quartets and sometimes even jammed with her children playing old time fiddle tunes with her children accompanying her on mandolin and guitar when they gathered for the holidays.

Services will take place at the Congregational Church in Murphys, CA at 2:00 PM on December 19th. A social gathering will follow. In lieu of flowers, contributions in Colleen’s name can be made to the Mark Twain Medical Center Foundation, 768 Mountain Ranch Road, San Andreas, CA.