Brian D. Smart

MADISON- Brian Douglas Smart, age 52, died at St. Mary's hospital on Friday, May l5, 2009,of acute pancreatitis and congestive heart failure. He was born October 21, 1956, the second of four boys to F. James and Avis (Splies) Smart in Madison, Wisconsin. Brian, as a young man, was an athlete, playing football and basketball in high school and excelling at snow skiing and water sports. All of his life he loved boating and was part of the Madison Lakes Yacht Club, which met regularlyduring the year. He graduated from Verona High School in l974, and received a two-year Associate Degree in Business from MATC(with honors), eager to join his older brother and father in the family business, Smart Motors. Brian loved the automobile business, but more than anything he was a ""people"" person. If you were his friend, you were part of his family. In l985, Brian met Nanci Vitale, a young widow with two small boys, and they became life partners. He and Nanci raised the boys, Cory and Joe, together and he took great joy in seeing them grow into fine young men. Joe married and had a son, Emersen, and a daughter, Isabella, and no one was prouder than Brian to be a grandfather. He beamed when he passed around their latest photos. And when Cory married Heather Peek on the Outer Banks of

North Carolina, Brian rejoiced at another family milestone. When Brian's father, F. James, died in December, 2006, the family business was passed on to the two oldest sons, James R. and Brian, who had both grown up in the business. They worked their way up from washingcars, mopping floors, working in the parts department, etc., until they finally earned their wings. They looked forward to spending the rest of their lives together, moving Smart Motors forward. Brian was preceded in death by his father, F. James Smart. He is survived byhisvery sad family: his partner, Nanci; children: Cory (Heather) and Joe; grandchildren, Emersen and Isabella;Brian's mother, Avis; his aunt, Janet Smart Emmerich; his brothers, James R. (wife Toni, daughter Hannah); Richard (children, Richard and Erika, granddaughter Bostyn); and Andrew (wife Meg, children, Kendall and Jacqueline). Three of the four Smart brothers, their spouses, and parents were in the habit of sending each other greeting cards that had a funny punch line andthey would pass them back and forth and have a good laugh. Brian would laugh with the rest but he would never send a funny card. He took sentiment seriously. On the day he went into the hospital for the very first and last time, it was Mother's Day. He called his mother, Avis, andsaid he wouldn't be visiting her because he was on his way to the emergency room but he made sure she would get his Mother's Day card. It said, ""Especially for Mom from both of us. It doesn't really matter that only one of us started out in life with you as a mother. Because you ended up being a wonderful mom to both of us. Happy Mother's Day. Love, Bri and Nanci."" A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Thursday, May 21, 2009, at GOOD SHEPHERD LUTHERAN CHURCH, 5701 Raymond Road, Madison, with a visitation starting at 9:00 AM. In lieu of flowers memorial may be made to the Madison Lakes Yacht Club, P.O. Box 7032, Madison, WI 53707, or to HospiceCare Foundation, Inc., 5395 E. Cheryl Parkway, Madison, WI 53711.