WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Eleanor Smith met her husband for the first time when she was a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ken Smith was also attending UNC-Chapel Hill. The couple would start dating and eventually get married.
“He was my college sweetheart and he became my life sweetheart,” Smith said.
The couple was married 44 magical years. They enjoyed traveling, dining out, and simply spending time with each other.
“We were partners in life and had a wonderful life together,” Smith said.
In November of last year, Ken Smith passed away after a battle with cancer. The past year has not been easy for Eleanor.
“I miss him all the time, all the time, he was my best friend,” Smith said.
Ken Smith is buried at a cemetery close to the Winston-Salem home they shared for years. Eleanor Smith makes at least two trips to the cemetery every week to visit with her husband. On a visit in early April Eleanor Smith received a shock when she arrived.
“I did not expect it to be there,” Smith said. “When I walked up I saw something pale green and I thought that can’t be him.”
Smith is referring to the cemetery marker she had ordered for her husband’s gravesite. The marker was supposed to be black not green and his full name was to be spelled out. The marker placed at the gravesite just had his middle initial.
“Not what I wanted, not what I ordered,” Smith said.
She immediately reached out to the cemetery director who apologized and said he would reorder a new marker. A few months passed and the marker had still not arrived.
“They had still not received it and didn’t seem to know what was going on,” Smith said.
At that point, Smith decided to reach out to us for some assistance. There was both frustration and pain visiting her husband’s gravesite and seeing the pale green marker on every visit.
“It has been a little difficult knowing every time I come to see him it (marker) wasn’t what I ordered,” Smith said.
We contacted the General Manager at the cemetery who to our surprise was unaware of the situation and delays. He promised he would make this a priority and get back to us shortly. The next day he called back and told us the delays were with the marker manufacturer but that this would become a priority to get this rectified quickly.
A couple weeks later Eleanor went to visit her husband.
“I was shocked to see it,” Smith said.
The new marker had arrived and placed at the gravesite.
“Now I can look forward to coming out knowing it’s the way I want it to be,” Smith said.
The general manager reached out to Smith not long after the marker was installed and offered an apology. He also told Smith the delays and mix-ups were unacceptable, and he offered Smith a full refund. A couple of weeks later a check for more than $7,000 arrived.
“I thank you (News 2) so much for the opportunity to talk with you and how fast you got it done is so wonderful,” Smith said.
Visits these days are simply about two college sweethearts and a love affair that lasted almost half a century.