Lila Lightfoot

Shorewood Hills - It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Lila Smith Lightfoot after a long illness that she bore with strength and dignity. Born April 7, 1926, in Newburgh, NY, to Dora (Bowerman) and James A. Smith, Lila was the younger sister of James Jr. and Edith (Maxwell).

Lila was educated as a chemist at Cornell University and Brooklyn Polytechnic. She worked in science before moving to Madison, where her career and interests took different paths. She became a community leader, personally caring for elderly women, promoting women's equality and liberty, pursuing graduate education in music, and launching second careers in music and community service.

Lila's marriage to Edwin N. Lightfoot of 67 years was a true and loving partnership that took her around the world and brought her life-long friends. Ed believes Lila's influence was the key to his professional success as well as personal happiness. Lila ran family businesses, camping trips, and a household full of friends, graduate students, and a caboodle of pampered cats and dogs.

Aside from her family Lila had three great loves: music, her alma mater Cornell University, and her adopted home of Madison. She was a proud member of the UW Choral Union, the Madison Opera Chorus, and the Covenant Presbyterian Church Choir. She served on the boards of the Friends of the Overture Organ, the Madison Symphony Orchestra league, and WORT. She was an elder of Covenant Presbyterian Church, and held several offices, including president, of the Pi Beta Phi Wisconsin Alpha Chapter alumnae club. She was a benefactor of the Covenant Church bell choir and a member of the Attic Angel Community, where she served personally for decades. She supported women's causes, through NOW, the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and Planned Parenthood, to name a few.


Her family remembers her as a graceful, elegant, and independent spirit; devoted mother; a strong, intelligent woman; a role model and best friend. She was a delightful person with a dry sense of humor that grew from a perceptive and compassionate approach to life. She was a great story teller, and often her jokes would leave us laughing so hard we were breathless and in tears before the punchline. It says a lot about Lila that she made each of her children feel unquestionably like her special favorite.

It is a great comfort to us that those at Attic Angels who took care of her during her illness knew her as the same person in her sickness that we knew in health--a remarkably kind, open-hearted person and a risk taker, with a sense of humor and love for life that immediately, or eventually, charmed all that knew her.

Lila is proudly and lovingly survived by her husband, Ed; her daughters, Dory (Enrique) and Nancy (Nick); her sons, Ted (Sue), Robert (Karin), and David (Barry); four nieces; her granddaughter, Kate; and many friends.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, December 17, 2016 at COVENANT PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, 326 S. Segoe Road, Madison. In lieu of flowers please consider a donation to a charity that reminds you of Lila, or one that was dear to her including A Cure for Alzheimer's, Covenant Presbyterian Church, Planned Parenthood, Madison Symphony Orchestra or Friends of the Overture Organ. Or be inspired to mentor a young person in need of encouragement or engage with an elderly person in need of companionship; that would be the best tribute to Lila.


Cress Funeral & Cremation Service
3610 Speedway Road, Madison
608-238-3434