Penny Lee Joseph Smith
1/22/2024
Penny Lee Joseph Smith (nee Greenberg) born on September 29, 1939, passed away on January 22, 2024. Originally from Lindenhurst, NY, Penny attended Highland Manor School for Girls before getting her BA in Education from Russel Sage College. She returned to Long Island with her first husband, Capt. Bob Joseph, to teach Elementary School and raise her two girls in Oakdale, NY. Penny’s mantra was PPT -- Power of Positive Thinking – which she lived every day of her life. As a young widow she not only raised her girls, but as an original ‘girl boss’, also continued to run her husband’s party fishing boat business from Captree State Park.
A DIY-er, she could (and did) wallpaper her kitchen, upholster the chairs, sew the curtains, as well as, her dinner outfit, and then turn around and make you a flambeed duck a l’orange for dinner. Her fancy outfits, feisty attitude, gold bracelets and hoop earrings were all part of her signature look. A passionate and accomplished artist she enjoyed photographing old buildings and bringing them to life with pen and ink, oils, or watercolors.
Arriving in Central Florida in the late-1980’s, she met her second husband, Gary Smith. They resided in Tuscawilla, Winter Springs, and DeBary before settling in at The Oaks in DeLand for the remainder of their lives. Penny became a late in life gym rat, spending up to six days a week into her late 70’s at the DeLand YMCA enjoying water aerobics and spin classes, but even more the people and friendships she developed there over the years.
If you knew Penny, you most certainly knew her favorite role was that of Nana to her four grandchildren. She is survived by her daughter, Ronni Seif (David) and their children Bobby and Mady of Suffern, NY, as well as Libi and Mica Asiag and their father Shahar, husband of her late daughter, Jodi, in Tel Aviv, Israel. May her memory be for a blessing.