Mindy Kay Smalley, 36

Mindy Kay Smalley, 36, of Defiance, Ohio, passed away on Friday, May 15, 2020 at Mercy Hospital, Defiance, Ohio. Mindy was born on March 21, 1984 at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. She is the daughter of the late Rebecca (Shafer) Smalley and Dean (Susie) Smalley. Susie adopted Mindy and her sister Mary not long after marrying Dean.

Mindy attended Hicksville Elementary School through 6th grade and was homeschooled through graduation in 2001. She joined the Navy in 2002, where she was stationed at Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, Hawaii. She graduated from Brown Mackie College in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Her last job was working with homebound and elderly patients with Helping Hands of Putnam County.

Surviving are her parents, Dean (Susie) Smalley; her siblings, MaryAnn (Fiancé Frank Espinosa) Gibson of Van Wert, Ohio, Dean “Deano” II, Grant, Cecelia (Seth Omlor), Anna, Jude, and Emma Smalley, all of Hicksville; grandparents, Roseann C. (Steffel) Meyer, John (Sally) Schafer; two nieces, Kayla and Caydence Gibson and a nephew, Myles Gibson; boyfriend, Joel Muniz and her beloved dog, Iggy. She was preceded in death by her mother Becky; grandparents, MaryAnn (Mack) Schafer, Harold and Betty (Brown) Smalley, and Gerald Meyer and a brother-in-law, Kevin Lee Gibson.

The Smalley Family will be holding a Memorial Mass at St. Michael Catholic Church, 100 Antwerp Drive, Hicksville, on Tuesday, May 26th at 2:00 p.m. with Father Dan Borgelt officiating. Arrangements are under the care of Oberlin-Turnbull Funeral Home, Hicksville.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that those planning an expression of sympathy consider a memorial of Catholic Masses said for Mindy at your local Catholic Church or to the family to help with expenses.