Celia Joan Smith (McCoy) danced like Ginger Rogers. As a young woman in the 1920s and '30s, she performed at the swankest clubs and was a darling of Variety magazine. By the mid-1930s, she was living on Long Island, N.Y., and conducting her own dancing school. She left that life behind in 1940, when she moved to Cincinnati to marry Lou Smith, the Enquirer's baseball writer. Mrs. Smith died May 24 at St. Mary's Memorial Home in Glendale. She was 93. "She was in the ilk of Ginger Rogers," said her son, Thom Smith of Falls Church, Va. "She was written up extensively in Variety." Born in New Castle, Pa., in 1911, she talked her mother into letting her move to Cleveland to study dance after high school. In New York, she volunteered for the Red Cross. She ended her dancing career when she married Smith. They lived in Pleasant Ridge until his death in 1979. In Cincinnati, she was involved with Catholic Charities, especially the annual charity ball, her son said. "She would design and get a bunch of women together and do all the table decorations. They were always kind of the hit of the ball. She was a very talented artist as well. "She was devoted to Lou," her son said. After he died, she moved to Tampa, Fla. She returned, to Glendale, in 1992. Other survivors include a son, Jerry Smith of Tampa; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. A Mass will be celebrated at 10:45 a.m. Saturday at St. Gabriel Catholic Church, 48 W. Sharon Ave., Glendale, followed by graveside service at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Montgomery. Memorials: St. Mary's Memorial Home, 469 Albion Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45246.

Service

Saturday, June 4, 2005 10:45 AM St. Gabriel Church Glendale , United States