Michelle Louis Smith passed peacefully in her sleep in the early morning hours of Thursday, October 23, 2025.

Born in Brockton, Massachusetts on January 22, 1959, Michelle Louise DeCosta later made Mardela Springs, Maryland her home with her loving husband, Leland Hedgecock Smith, where they built a life together and raised their children. Michelle is survived by her three children: Christopher James Smith, Joshua Charles Smith, and Tarah Rosanne Phillips (A.J.); her grandchildren: Dylan, Luke, and Mila Smith, Tristan Smith, Karleigh Stewart, and Parker Phillips; and her siblings Donna McLeod (Dennis), Edmund DeCosta (Stacy), Susan King, as well as a host of nieces and nephews and lastly, the two people whose friendship and love were immeasurable and unwavering, Gwyn and Jess Tayloe. Preceding her in death are her loving husband, Leland Hedgecock Smith, her youngest son, Ethan Donald Smith, her little brother Joseph Edward Raymond, and both parents Evelyn Lorraine Shephard, DeCosta, Raymond, and John Donald DeCosta.