Nancy L. Smart

Nancy Linda Smart, age 81, passed away Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at Dougherty Hospice in Sioux Falls, SD. The family will be present to greet friends for a memorial visitation on Friday, May 30, 2025 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm at George Boom Funeral Home & On-Site Crematory in Sioux Falls. The Memorial Service will begin at 2:00 pm on Saturday, May 31, 2025 also at the funeral home. Interment will follow at Hills of Rest Cemetery.

Nancy was born on the old east side of Sioux Falls and walked up hill both ways to attend Whittier and Washington High School (buses were not a thing back then). She spent summers walking to Falls Park to swim even though her mother warned her not to. She was born to be a caregiver and cared for a lot of people. She always kept tabs on family and friends to ensure they got what they needed. You could count on her to always be there.

Nancy worked a CNA for most of her life, working at Sioux Valley Hospital (Sanford) for 10 years and retiring from Good Samaritan Village after working the night shift for 20 years. 

Nancy loved to travel. She and her partner Jerry traveled a bit over the years visiting places like Washington State to visit her cousins Karen and Shannon, Los Angeles to visit her sister Janice, Albuquerque, NM to visit her sister Lorna and Yellowstone National Park. When Dianna and Rhead moved to Colorado they took her to places like Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park, Buena Vista and Salida.

Nancy and Jerry were snowbirds; they had a place in Apache Junction, AZ and would travel there every November stopping thru Denver to see her kids. Her best friend Betty and husband Ron were also snowbirds and they would spend a lot of time getting together for dinner or to play Mexican Train with drinks -sometimes some good stiff ones! The four of them also took a trip to Las Vegas. 

Nancy was a deeply loving mother. She loved her kids with everything she had. There will be a deep void in their lives and she will be greatly missed.

Grateful for having shared her life are her children, Dianna (Andraya Long) Smart of Denver, CO and Rhead Smart of Westminster, CO; her niece, Michelle (Kim) Boever of Sioux Falls; her grandchildren, Justin (Krystina) Thompson, Jesse Thompson, and Matthew Glass; her great-grandchildren, Ocean and Aurora Thompson; her significant other, Jerry Arens of Sioux Falls, SD; step children, Nancy Anderson of White, SD, Rick (Kerrie) Arens of The Villages, FL, and Mark (Carol) Arens of Hartford, SD; Jerry and Nancy’s 7 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren; two sisters, Janice (Bill) Hanson of Fullerton, CA and Lorna (Tom) Duncan of Albuquerque, NM; and many dear relatives and friends. Nancy also leaves behind her best friend of 57 years, Betty Scott of Sioux Falls, SD.

Nancy is preceded in death by her parents, Lloyd and Margaret (Thompsen) Mriden; infant son, Phillip Layne Smart; brothers, Richard Mriden and Dennis Mriden; sisters, Colleen Lommen, Valerie Fuchs, and Diane Kelley.