Valerie Smith

Valerie Smith was born in 1941 in County Durham, England.

At the age of 9 she was sent to London to train at the Royal Ballet School. At 16 she was loaned to the Old Vic Theater, a renowned Shakespeare company, to dance in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” She danced at Covent Garden and The London Palladium. After hurting her ankle, she trained to become a ballet teacher and opened three schools in Scotland.

Val married her husband Clifford in 1962, who was in The Royal Navy at the time. They had two children, Ian and Julia. Clifford and Val moved house 18 times.

She came to America when her husband was appointed to the British Embassy and taught at The Washington Ballet School, until they moved to West Virginia.

Valerie became very active during the AIDS crisis and was on the Foundation Committee of the Whitman Walker Clinic in Washington, D. C. She worked for 5 years as a volunteer, looking after a house owned by the Whitman Walker Clinic, where young people who were dying of AIDS and whose families would not or could not help them, came to live. The residents’ average life span was six months.

Val raised money for children with AIDS. One memorable event, with the help of ambassadors and military personnel, was “Kids Count” held in the Organization of American States on Constitution Avenue.

In 1981, Valerie and her son Ian opened Harlequin, a business importing products from the United Kingdom, which they sold five years later.

After moving to Shepherdstown in 1997, Val served on the Foundation Board of the AIDS Network of the Eastern Panhandle for three years. She was also on the boards of Millbrook Orchestra and The Friends of Music.

In 2003, Val and Joan Ergin began CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). Today, CASA has 80 volunteer advocates and has found a safe and permanent home for over 5,000 abused and neglected children.

Val became a realtor with Greentree Realty, which she loved. After 12 years she retired, due to health problems.

She was awarded the Elizabeth Taylor Award for excellence and a Woman of Distinction for the Girl Scouts of America.

Val is survived by her husband, Cdr. Clifford W. Smith; son Ian Gibson-Smith; daughter, Julia Lam; son-in-law, Shane Evans; grandsons, Collin and Duncan Lam; and brother and sister-in-law Keith and Christine Gibson.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to CASA–EP at 397 Mid-Atlantic Parkway, Martinsburg, WV 25404.

Services and interment will be private.

Arrangements made by Brown Funeral Home.

Online condolences may be offered at www.BrownFuneralHomesWV.com.