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ST. GEORGE — Green shamrocks, ribbon and balloons filled the Desert Hills neighborhood Thursday in honor of a wife and mother who died in an ATV accident March 10.
Lenae Smith, 36, adored St. Patrick’s Day and used to serve her four young children green breakfasts, lunches and dinners to celebrate, according to her close friend and neighbor, Shanna Bundy.
Following her death, neighbors were brainstorming ways to help her family cope during their first St. Patrick’s Day without their mother. After passing out fliers and posting on neighborhood Facebook pages, Desert Hills residents decorated their neighborhood in green.
Harmons donated 100 green balloons and former neighbors donated additional supplies. Some neighbors even decorated with green spotlights.
“It’s kind of funny because a lot of people were like ‘I couldn’t find anything,’ because so many people went out and bought stuff that all the stores were sold out,” Bundy said.
Members of the Smith’s local church congregation began decorating Wednesday night and finishing touches were put in place Thursday morning. Someone even brought the family a green breakfast.
“(Her kids) saw us last night and ... they were super excited,” Bundy said, adding that her husband was also very excited and thanked them for doing it.
Bundy said Smith was an amazing cook, an amazing artist and a humble person.
“She kinda made everybody feel like they were her best friend,” Bundy said. “They’ve actually moved her funeral to a bigger building because we were afraid that it wouldn’t be big enough for all of the people that are coming.”
Though the Desert Hills neighborhood was already tight-knit, this made them even closer, Bundy said. They plan to leave the St. Patrick’s Day decorations up until after Smith’s funeral this weekend.
“I keep saying, she was just an angel here on earth, that’s why she’s gone,” Bundy said. “She was perfect; she didn’t need to be here.”
Smith’s viewing will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday and 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Bloomington Hills Stake Center. A funeral will follow the Saturday morning viewing at 11 a.m.
To donate to the Smith's GoFundMe* account, visit the website.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
