Caroline Smith McNamara

Caroline Smith McNamara, 77, of Hendersonville passed away on Thursday, April 8, 2021 at the Carolina Village Medical Center.  She was born in Philadelphia, PA to the late Deborah Ann Ebaugh Smith and Winfield Foulds Smith.  Caroline was also preceded in death by her husband with whom she shared 43 years of loving marriage, Stephen Hull McNamara; sister-in-law, Heather Mara; aunt, Laura Ebaugh; uncle, David Ebaugh; and grandparents, Caroline Griffith Smith and George Washington Ebaugh, and Elizabeth Foulds and Albert Smith.

Caroline was passionate about her children and grandchildren.  Her professional life was also dedicated to children, at St. Francis Preschool in Potomac, MD, and as a Head start teacher in SC.  She was a member of Sandy Spring Meeting (Quaker), a volunteer at the Board of Visitors at the Kanuga Conference Center, and a former member of the board of Sidwell Friends School.  Caroline’s hobbies included gardening, reading, music, and hiking.  Her favorite place was her family cabin in Hendersonville, NC where treasured memories were shared with family and friends, of many generations.  She was a kind and wonderful friend to all who were lucky enough to know her.

Left to cherish her memory are her son, Matthew McNamara and his wife Veronica Pinell-McNamara and their three children, Patrick, Sofia and Seamus McNamara of Atlanta, GA; daughter, Deborah Hutchins and her husband Nick, and their four children, Liam, Jeremy, Caleb and Nina of Melbourne, Australia;  sister-in-law, Ann Chase and her husband Brad Chase of Gaithersburg, MD, their daughter Theia and her husband, Robert Gill, and daughter, Heather of Columbia, MD; first cousin, Laurie Smith of Leicester, NC and her daughter Carrie Allison Britt of Mills River NC; and her Hull and McNamara cousins, and many loved friends.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Caroline’s honor to the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, NC or to Westtown School in West Chester, PA.  A Celebration of Life will be planned for a later date.