Anita (Kollstede) Westsmith

LAKEVILLE — Mrs. Anita (Kollstede) Westsmith, 98, a longtime resident of the Lakeville area, passed away peacefully at her home on April 4, 2011. Anita was born Feb. 17, 1913, in Providence, R.I. She attended Dana Hall School, and studied fashion design both in New York and Paris at the Parsons School of Design and the Sorbonne. She and her father left Paris in 1936, and moved to Coronado, Calif., where she met and married her husband, Dr. Richard Alan Westsmith, with whom she had a happy marriage of almost 60 years. In 1948 they moved to the San Francisco Bay area where they were instrumental in founding the Crystal Springs School for Girls in Hillsborough (now the Uplands School). Anita opened a needlecraft and design shop, the Designing Woman, while living in California; then in 1964, when the couple moved to Sharon, she opened her second shop with co-owner Ginny Palmer. Anita and her husband both participated in Sharon social and civic activities. After they moved to Lakeville in 1984, they were involved in starting the Taconic Learning Center, which Anita and her daughter, Lyn, enthusiastically enjoyed through this spring. She was a well-known figure in the community, notable for her bright yellow Smart car, and she will missed by all who knew her. She is survived by her three daughters, Lyn Westsmith of Lakeville, Jan Kolstad of Northridge, Calif., and Kim Simmons of Litchfield; five grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at the Salisbury Congregational Church on a date to be set.The Kenny Funeral Home in Sharon has charge of the arrangements.