Dr. Christina Smith

Dr. Christina Smith, age 50, of Asheville, NC, passed away on Friday, August 31, surrounded by family, after a courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer.

“Kiki,” as she was known to her friends and family, is survived by her husband, Chris German, her husband of 23 years, and their two sons Sean (22) and Will (19); her parents Ann and Richard Smith (formerly of McLean, Virginia but recently of Asheville); her sister Jennifer E. Smith of Asheville; her sister and brother-in-law Julia and Jacob Caselli and their daughter, Sophia, of Swannanoa, NC; her sister-in-law Mary Manley and her husband Mark, and their children Ryan and Katie, of Charlottesville, VA; and her parents in-law, Glenn and Betty German of Midlothian, VA and Beverly German of Charlottesville, VA.

“Kiki,” as she was known to her friends and family, graduated from Cornell University and received her doctorate of optometry from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon. In preparation for optometry school, she completed coursework at Virginia Tech, where she and Chris met and fell in love.

Kiki loved hiking and camping in the Blue Ridge Mountains, playing and watching soccer, solving jigsaw puzzles, and strategizing to victory at board and card games. In her youth she was a beautiful figure skater. Kiki built a thriving optometry practice in Black Mountain from the ground up while raising Sean and Will. She also organized several optometric mission trips and traveled to many countries, including Grenada and Trinidad, to help bring better vision to the underserved. Like most things Kiki did, she treated her patients with skill and compassion.

Kiki experienced and accomplished many wonderful things in her too-short life. She was a loving and devoted wife, mother, daughter, sister, aunt and friend. Above all, what she treasured most was her two sons who brought her immense joy and pride. For those of us fortunate to know her, she was the most patient, generous and kind person we had ever met. To know Kiki was to love her, and so many loved her.

A memorial service to honor and celebrate Kiki’s life will be held at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Asheville on September 11, 2019 at 1:00 pm. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to Volunteer Optometric Services to Humanity International: VOSH-NC, Inc. 6123 Tarin Road, Wilmington, NC 28409 (VOSH-NC is a 501c3 non-profit organization).