Marion Smith Raney, 97, died on March 27, 2026, in Noblesville, Indiana. She was born in Schenectady, New York to Sara Abbott Smith and Aubrey Smith. She married Alan Raney in 1952, and they remained devoted to one another until Alan’s death in 2000.

Marion was a strong personality, a blend of her father’s forceful qualities and her mother’s sweet-natured ones. She valued rules and traditions, but she was unconventional too, even eccentric at times, and she had the courage to stand up for what she believed in and thought was right. She took pleasure in life’s small moments, and was able to see the funny or ridiculous side of things. One year she wryly tolerated the storage of roadkill in her spare freezer, in aid of her daughter’s art. Marion was proud of the lives of all her children and was intrigued by their distinctness, once remarking that having twin sons had convinced her that “children arrive already themselves.” Amongst the many things she passed down to her children were her non-materialist outlook, her openness to other cultures, and her lifelong love of reading and swimming. She will be remembered for her optimism, her drive, generosity and integrity, her faith, her progressive and intelligent political views, and her powerful sense of social justice.

Marion attended Nott Terrace High School in Schenectady, and graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio with a degree in Chemistry, in 1950 when it was still uncommon for women to study the hard sciences. After college she lived with friends in Boston and worked at a Harvard laboratory, before moving back to Schenectady where she and Alan raised their family. They were active members of Union Presbyterian Church in Schenectady, and when in 1976 they moved to Roanoke, Virginia, they became active at Raleigh Court Presbyterian Church. In Roanoke they created a close circle of friends, and Marion found great joy in the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains visible from the deck at the back of their house.

Marion had a deep faith in God, which she lived out in her family, church and community. She and Alan were instrumental in setting up and growing the West End Youth Center, which has transformed the lives of young people in Roanoke since 1979. Marion joined the Board of Directors in 1983, and for fifteen years she was the Center’s treasurer, as well as a mentor, role model and friend to its staff and children, receiving the Civitan Club Good Samaritan Award when she stepped down in 1998. Through Raleigh Court church, she and Alan worked on a Central American partnership and a Haitian school project, and they travelled as volunteers to Central America, taking evening classes in Spanish to support these activities. They invited into their home Julie from Chicago, and Selma from Mexico; this led to a Christmas trip to Mexico City and a family connection that still exists today.

After the children moved away, Marion worked until 2008 as a tax preparer for H and R Block. She loved accounting and the precision of numbers, but the human side of the job was equally if not more important to her, as evidenced by thirty years of loyal clients who would joke, “Mrs. Raney, you can’t retire until after I die…” Her feminist instincts came out as she encouraged her women clients to take control of their own finances. Outside of work, she offered financial advice to elderly members of the church, and enriched their lives by visiting them often, believing that what mattered above all was how you lived your life. “It is so important,” she wrote, “for all of us to do things for people now while they can be appreciated.’

Marion loved babies and children, and she was an adoring and adored grandmother, involving herself in the lives of her grandchildren in spite of the fact that they were scattered from Indiana to Oregon to Georgia to London. Friendship mattered hugely to Marion. She kept lifelong friends from childhood, high school and college, and she made new friends wherever she went. In later years, her caregivers were devoted to her, and said Marion’s death had “left a hole in our hearts.” The family is grateful to A Family For Mom and Guardian Angel Hospice for their loving care in her final two years, and earlier to Sunrise Senior Living and Paradigm Hospice, all in Indianapolis where she moved to be near her eldest daughter.

Her family will plan a memorial service at a later date.

Marion is survived by her four children: Leanne Jackson, Karen Raney, Dave Raney and Paul Raney; six grandchildren: Katie, Emily, Kelly, Steven, Danielle and Zachary, and one great-granddaughter, Cleo; her sister-in-law Ellen Smith, and her nieces and nephew. She was pre-deceased by her beloved husband Alan, her dear brother Abbott Smith, her lifelong friend and cousin Carlie Hagen, and by many close friends.

She asked us to support “God’s work in the world, for children and the peacemakers.” Donations can be made in her memory to The West End Center in Roanoke, Virginia, The Guardian Angel Hospice Foundation in Indiana, or to the community group or house of worship of your choice.