Jessica L. Smith

Jessica Lee (West) Smith, daughter, sister, wife, aunt and friend, passed away September 29, 2022 in her husband’s loving arms. She was the daughter of Timothy O. Dougherty and Patricia K. West. She was born on February 5, 1969 in Venice, Florida and graduated from Venice High School in 1987, followed by Manatee Community College. She worked in banking and secretarial positions before starting her career at Shewski Roofing in 1996 through her early retirement in 2022 due to complications from secondary pulmonary hypertension. She enjoyed both her co-workers and customers.

Jessica married Darren Smith on May 15, 1999. He was her rock and best friend. She loved spending time with him and their cats. Jessica enjoyed going to the beach, reading, doing puzzles, crafts, meals with friends and traveling to other states to see friends and family. She cherished the memory of the times she traveled to Slovakia to see friends. She spent as much time as possible with her grandma who was her favorite person. After her grandmother passed, Jessica became the anchor of the family. Her cousin Sue Ann even said she was the glue that held the family together.

She also spent time fundraising for pulmonary hypertension research.

Jessica is survived by her husband Darren, dad Timothy and mom Patricia, brother Timothy R. Dougherty, Uncle Rick Rudy ( De de Culp & Donna Raines), Aunt Fay Biddle (Angela Ploszaj & Sue Ann Shogren), Aunt Barbara Herring (Jon Lindh), and Uncle Jeff Ash.

She was pre-deceased by her grandparents Richard and Mildred Rudy, Oran and Wilma Dougherty and Aunt Becky Ash. She was deeply loved and will be missed by all.

A memorial will be held at Maxine Barritt Park, 1800 Harbor Dr. S., Venice, FL from 4pm to 8pm on Sunday evening February 5th.