December 15, 1944 – June 28, 2021
Devoted wife and mother, Sylvia “Toni” Antoinette Smoot, passed away peacefully in her home on Monday, June 28, 2021, at 76. She fought a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Toni was born in Modesto, CA on December 15, 1944 to Garth and Sue Jones. She attended Modesto High School and Harris School of Business. Upon marrying Dave Smoot they moved to the Bay Area where they lived and raised a family for 33 years in San Mateo.
Toni worked as a bookkeeper before starting a family. When her children were school age she volunteered and eventually worked for the San Mateo-Foster City School District for many years. She then worked as an office manager at Marina Gardens Apartments. In 1998 they retired to Georgetown, CA. After a lifelong hobby of collecting antiques, they followed their dream of owning an antique store, Frog Pond Gifts and Antiques, which they owned for 14 years. Upon selling the business two years ago, they split their time between their homes in Placerville and Georgetown.
Toni made lifelong friends while involved in the PTA, Divide 4-Wheelers, and especially at Trinity Lake where they vacationed (camping, boating, water-skiing) with friends and family for decades. She was a skilled seamstress, loved cooking, sports cars, jewelry, shopping (especially for shoes), spicy food and taking road trips!
Toni is preceded in death by her parents and sister JoAnn Stahl. She is survived by her husband of 56 years, Dave (who affectionately calls her Frog); daughters Wendy Mibach (Matt), Heidi Smoot (Alex Steinhart); grandchildren; Emily, Michaela, Peter, and Grace Mibach; Sofia and Elliot Steinhart; sister Laurie Johnson; many nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers and sisters-in-law, and faithful furry companions Ricky and Cougar.
A Celebration of Life is being planned. Final resting place will be Turlock Memorial Park and in our hearts forever. A charitable contribution can be made in Toni’s name to specialfriends.org, a nonprofit dedicated to helping families and individuals with RTS, or, sempervirens.org (go to “dedicate a tree”) to support California’s redwood forests.
We are so sorry to hear of your loss. We thank Sylvia for inspiring others to protect redwoods over the years, and to her family and friends for honoring her by supporting our work to protect redwoods for future generations.
So sorry for the loss of a wonderful neighbor in Placerville I will miss her getting in that Red Corvette. My Prayers are with the family.