Funeral Details

Rae “Ginger” Smerling. It is with profound sadness and broken hearts that we announce the passing of Rae (Ginger) Smerling. Ginger was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, on 8/1/33, to Henry and Carolyn Livingston. She attended the University of Michigan where she made lifelong friends and met the love of her life, David Smerling. Ginger and David married after graduating in 1955. Ginger was a gracious and refined woman who maintained her dignity throughout her battle with ALS. She will be remembered for her thoughtfulness, kindness, elegance, radiant beauty, devotion to family, intellect and witty humor, love of all things peanut butter and chocolate, and her passion for reading and bridge. She also enjoyed golf and tennis. Ginger maintained remarkably close connections to her children, their spouses, and grandchildren and cherished those relationships and times spent together. Her family devotion extended to relatives ranging from California to the East Coast and beyond, including Ireland and Israel. Ginger was incredibly social and close with her many girlfriends, some going back to her college days at the Alice Lloyd dormitory and AEPhi Sorority, as well as her time volunteering at the Mary Lawrence Chapter of the Jewish Children’s Bureau. Above all, Ginger and David were deeply in love and their devotion to each other set the standard for what it takes to have a successful, fun and enduring marriage for close to 67 years. Ginger is survived by her loving family: her children Linda (Dick) Schapiro, Michael (Stephanie) Smerling, Janet (Scott) LeVee; grandchildren Martin (John Blakinger) Schapiro, Steven Schapiro, Lizzy Schapiro, Elli (Andres) Sevi, Serena Smerling, Miranda Smerling, Henry (Maddie) LeVee, and Joe LeVee. Great grandmother to newborn Emanuel Avram Sevi. Funeral Services are private. Contributions in her memory can be made to the Les Turner ALS Foundation, 5550 W. Touhy Avenue, Suite 302, Skokie, IL 60077, www.lesturnerals.org/, Jewish United Fund, 30 S. Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60606, www.juf.org, or the Ginger and David’s Multiple Sclerosis Fund, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, PO Box #91891, Washington, D.C. 20090​, mssociety.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donate.personalCampaign&participantID=26473. Arrangements by Chicago Jewish Funerals - Skokie Chapel, 847.229.8822, www.cjfinfo.com.