Patricia Marie Holian Grimes Smith

Patricia Marie Holian Grimes Smith, 84, of Nashville, Tennessee, passed away on April 14, 2022, in Dalton, Georgia after a long illness.

Patricia was born in 1938, the only child of Austin and Catherine Holian, in the Bronx borough of New York City, New York. When her family moved to the Washington Heights area of Manhattan, she attended Incarnation School through 8 ^th grade and High School of the Blessed Sacrament through 12 ^th grade. After graduation, she went on to study history at Hunter College in New York City.

After receiving a teaching certificate, Patricia began a career in education that lasted more than 40 years. While a classroom teacher, she earned a Master’s and a Doctor of Education from Florida Atlantic University, and advanced through school administration and academic positions including elementary, middle, and high school principal; area superintendent in Broward County, Florida; and professor at Nova Southeastern University and Middle Tennessee State University.

Patricia married James Grimes in 1959 and they went on to raise five children. The family moved often in the early years before settling in south Florida in 1970. They divorced in 1984. Patricia relocated to Tennessee in 1998, remarried in 2001, and settled in Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband, Emmett Wayne Smith. Patricia retired in 2012 and enjoyed spending her time visiting with her many friends, with the garden club, playing bridge, and being active in the Catholic Church.

Patricia is survived by her children, Kathleen Chau (nee Grimes), Margie Bruner (nee Grimes), Denis Grimes, James Grimes, and John Grimes; her grandchildren, Megan Nickolai (nee Bruner), Andrew Bruner, Rebecca Chau, Amanda Grimes, Ellen Grimes, Victoria Chau, Austin Grimes, Laura Grimes, and Olivia Grimes; and her great grandchildren, Sadie Nickolai, Mary Margaret Nickolai, Jack Nickolai, and Joanna Bruner. She is preceded in death by her parents, Austin and Catherine Holian, husband Emmett Wayne Smith, former husband, James Grimes, and her grandson, John Bruner.

Friends and relatives may pay their respects at the funeral mass at 11:00 AM (Eastern Time) on Monday, April 18, at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dalton, Georgia. The mass will be streamed via Zoom, click the link to access.

https://zoom.us/j/93041954794?pwd=c1RNd3A0Y2hCVFBUT25QYlk0SjVndz09