Mary Frances (Smiley) Padan

Mary Padan was a loving mother, devoted wife and homemaker, all jobs she took very seriously. She loved her family and was loved by her family. Mary Padan died of natural causes on January 9 at the age of 95 at Thomson Hood Veteran Center in Wilmore, KY.

She was born in Denham Springs Louisiana in 1929 to Beza Warren and Loula Smiley and grew up in Louisianna, Oklahoma and Kentucky. She had two siblings who predeceased her, Walter Smiley and Betty Jones Parra.

She served briefly in the Airforce, where she met her husband George Padan, they had two children, Mary Kane (Joseph Kane) and Georgette Smith (Danny Smith) four grandchildren, Erin Jordan (Daniel), JW Kane, Warren Lilly and George Lilly and five great grandchildren, Winter Jordan (deceased), Iris Jordan, Allison Kane, Taylor Lilly Cross and Chase Lilly Cross. She also had 7 nieces, all daughters of her sister Betty.

Her husband served 21 years in the Airforce, and they lived in several places in the United States as well as 3 years in Japan. After her husband’s retirement, they moved and lived for more than 20 years in Portsmouth, Ohio until moving to Kentucky where both lived their remaining days. Mrs. Padan was married to her loving husband for nearly 69 years until his passing in 2020. They had a long and happy marriage and traveled much of the world together. She enjoyed reading, cooking, and loved nothing more than spending time with her family and will be greatly missed.

The funeral will be held on Saturday, January 25 at 3 pm. The location is to be determined and will depend on the weather. In Lieu of Flowers, donations can be made in Mary Padan’s memory to Altrusa International Lexington, KY Foundation, Inc., P. O. Box 22564, Lexington, KY 40522 (100% of money raised by Altrusa goes back to serve our community) or THVC Program Fund, 100 Veterans Drive, Wilmore, KY 40390 (all donations go to provide programs for the Veterans at Thomson Hood Veteran Center).