Suzanne B. Smith-Fields

Obituary For Suzanne B. Smith-Fields

Suzanne B. Jones Smith-Fields was born in Steelton, Pa to the late Dr. George A. Jones, MD and Mrs. Helen P. Jones.

She is preceded in death by her late husband, Preston E. Smith, of 40 years; sister and best friend, Shirley E. Jones Carter and her brother, George B. Jones.

She was baptized at the age of 12 in her home church, First Baptist Church, Steelton, Pa. Later in life, she and her late husband, Preston E. Smith, moved to Greensboro, NC his home state, and joined New Light Baptist Church where she still holds her membership. After marrying Dr. Corinthian Fields, Ph.D., in 2004, she attended his church, Mount Zion Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, NC.

Suzanne was educated in the Steelton, Pa public school system until she entered Palmer Memorial Institute, Sedalia, NC, in her junior year, graduation in 1953. After graduation from Palmer, she attended Howard University and later graduated from Central Pennsylvania College, Summerdale, Pa.

Suzanne began her career as a Federal employee at the former Olmsted Air Force Base, Middletown, PA in 1958. In March 1960, she and her late husband moved to Washington D.C. where he accepted a position with the National Security Agency and she accepted a position in the Pentagon as Executive Assistant in the Department of Air Force Military Retirements Division; Office of the Secretary of Defense (Manpower) Civil Rights Division; and the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. Near the end of her Federal career, she was asked to accept a position on the Cabinet Council of Management and Administration in the White House under the Reagan Administration. She also worked on President Carter's Transition Team, White House Conference on Children and Youth and the White House Conference on Aging under the Nixon Administration. While working in the White House, she received a Letter of Appreciation written to her personally by President Reagan, a Sustained Superior Award for her work for the the Department of Air Force, and Letter of Appreciation for her work on President Carter's Transition Team. On February 5, 1985, she retired from the Federal Government. While still located in Washington DC, she was invited to Camp David for the promotion ceremony of a friend, Sat in the Kennedy Center's President box in 1984 to see Roberta Flack sing and while a student at Howard University was taught by Roberta Flack on the piano. She also learned to play the Harp at the age of 60 by attending the Music Academy of North Carolina in Greensboro.

After leaving the White House and retirement, she became an entrepreneur, owning a vintage fine fur business in the DC area. In February 1988, after moving to Greensboro her entrepreneurial spirit called on her again. She became owner of Adire, Enterprises, and African Clothing and African Art business, where all the clothes where made by her dear friend and extended family member, Mrs. Iona Lewis who at the time lived in England. The African art were magnificent works of sculpture by one of the most well-known sculptors in Benign City, West Africa, which she and a partner displayed in various parts of the UA, including Atlanta, GA, Hilton Head, SC, Charlotte, NC, Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC, NC, A&T State University in Greensboro, to name a few. President/Owner, Leisure Time and Friends, a marketing business which assisted small minority businesses and raised funds for Sickle Cell Anemia; President, Committee to Help Eradicate Cancer (CHEC), and organization she partnered with Howard University Cancer Research Center to raise funds for cancer research. This organization was started in memory of her late husband, Preston E. Smith and late sister, Mrs. Shirley E. Jones Carter. She also was President/Owner of Singles International Networking Groups, Inc., an organization she started in Greensboro, NC, MAy 2000, to assist people who were single, divorced, widowed and widowers to enjoy life again. After her marriage to her present husband, Dr. Corinthian Fields, Jr., in 2004, she turned that organization over to another interested party.

She was interested in many causes and organizations such as Palmer Memorial Institute

Alumni Association; The Dovetts, Inc., Washington DC; Life Member of the NAACP, Winston-Salem, NC Chapter; Member, Gettysburg Historical Society; Charter Member, National Museum of African American History and Culture; Founding member, Martin Luther King Monument; Charter Member Ellis Island Statue of Liberty Restoration Project, NYC; Member National Association of Active and Retired Federal Employees; volunteer from 2001-2007 for the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, MD; volunteer on Fund Raising Campaign YMCA of Greensboro, NC; and volunteer on President Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign.

She loved her neighborhood and at one time was Assistant Treasurer and member of the hospitality committee for one term on the Wilpar Estates Homeowners Association, Greensboro, NC.

She had one guilty pleasure and that was dibbling and dabbling in the stock market. She, at times, would spend most of the day listening to TV and researching what stock she was going to purchase next.

Suzanne loved her family unconditionally and did whatever she could to support them in many ways. She leaves precious memories to her loving husband, Dr. Corinthian Fields, Ph.D.; sons, Douglas P. Smith; Bryan K. Wade, Sr.; and Edmund A. Smith I (Shawna); brother, James A. Jones (Armetta), South Orange, NJ; step-children, Cory Fields, Timothy Fields (Britany), Juliana Fields Richardson (Terrell); Grandchildren, Eddie Smith II, Stacia Smith, Taryn Gsell, Douglas J. Smith, Hadiya Dubose Smith, Nona Nikki Lowry (Gregory), Siana Marie Smith, Bryan K. Wade, II (Lateefa), Tiffany T. Wade, Antonio Washington, Alexander and Carter Fields; Saja Menefee, Shelbe Dawson; Nehemiah, Zion, Jeremiah and numerous great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. She also had a great love for her special cousins Brenda Walker-Williams and Beverly Walker

A service honoring her life will be held Friday, December 9, 2022 at 11:00 AM in the Cassie Coote-Brown Memorial Chapel at Perry J. Brown Funeral Home. Visitation begins at 10:30 AM.

Interment: Lakeview Memorial Park 3600 N. O’Henry Blvd. Greensboro, NC 27405.