Lorraine Smith Du Fresne

Funeral Mass for Lorraine Smith Du Fresne, 68, of Virginia City, will be celebrated 4 p.m. Dec. 28, at St. Mary in the Mountains. A reception will follow at the Fourth Ward School.

A 43-year resident of the Comstock, she died Dec. 14, 2007, at her daughter's home in Minden. She was born Nov. 1, 1939, in Wilder, Idaho, to Ernest E. and Dorothy M. Smith.

At the time of her death she was serving her first four-year term as Storey County Clerk/Treasurer. A public servant for most of her life she also worked for Storey County in the offices of the district attorney, assessor and as a deputy county clerk.

She was a veteran of the Women's Army Corps having served in Europe.

Through the years she brought the Veterans Day Parade and Little League to the Comstock. She was the impetus behind the city's first public park, Miners Park and was well known for her efforts to lend a hand whether it was for a boot drive following Sept. 11 or a gumbo feed following Hurricane Katrina.

Her smile greeted visitors and residents for more than a decade across the plank at the Silver Dollar Pub, a bar she opened in 1984. Her hobbies included politics, news, gardening, cooking, reading, Nevada history and traveling Nevada's back roads and Italy's cobbled streets.

Among her survivors are her daughter and son-in-law Kelli Du Fresne and Jeff Hinkle of Minden; son John Du Fresne of Virginia City; son and daughter-in-law Rob and Marie Du Fresne of Gold Hill; grandchildren Josephine Lorraine Du Fresne of Carson City; grandsons Christopher and Joshua Du Fresne of Gold Hill; step-grandchildren Tim Hinkle of Gardnerville and Kim Wagner of Yuba City, Calif.; sister Carol Noble of Wallowa, Ore.; brother Wayne Smith of Yakima, Wash.; and foster brother Bob Pickell of Toledo, Ore.; numerous nieces and nephews and cousins; and ex-husband and longtime friend Bob Du Fresne of Gold Hill.

In place of flowers, please send donations in her name to the Storey County Volunteer Fire Department, P.O. Box 603, Virginia City, NV 89440, or to the Virginia City Motorcycle Marathon, a charitable organization that helps Comstock residents who are unable to pay their medical bills at P.O. Box 714, Virginia City, NV 89440.

Also, please share your favorite photos of Lorraine. Copies may be sent to P.O. Box 3, Virginia City, NV 89440, or bring them to the reception. Send your stories of Lorraine to duhink1966@charter.net.