Michael J. Smith Jr., a Chelsea native who spent more than four decades in funeral service and ran the Smith Funeral Home on Washington Avenue for years, died at his home in Saugus on Saturday, November 7, 2026, after a long illness. He was 67.
He was born in Chelsea on June 24, 1959, and grew up in the city. He went to St. Stanislaus School and then Christopher Columbus High School in the North End, graduating in 1979, and earned an associate’s degree in 1981 from the New England Institute of Applied Arts and Science.
His first job in the field was at the Vincent J. Mazzarella Funeral Home in Orient Heights, East Boston, run by the man who became his father-in-law. After working at other funeral homes he started a trade embalming business, preparing bodies for funeral homes across greater Boston, often at all hours, and built a name in the trade as an exacting embalmer.
In 1992 he bought the Walata Funeral Home in Chelsea, remodeled it and reopened it as the Smith Funeral Home, which let him serve families in the neighborhood where he was raised. In 2008 he added a second location, buying the Carroll Funeral Home on Salem Street in Malden, and gave up trade embalming. His health began to fail about five years ago. He kept working as long as he could, his family says, and closing both funeral homes was a decision he did not want to make.
He and his wife, Susan M. (Mazzarella) Smith, started their family in Chelsea, where their sons Ryan and Matthew were born, and moved to Saugus in 2001. Away from work he was happiest at home with his family, by the backyard pool or in front of a movie. He went to Aruba and other Caribbean islands several times a year, liked an occasional trip to the casino, and followed the Red Sox and the other Boston teams. He belonged to the Chelsea Chamber of Commerce, the Cary Square Club and the Knights of Columbus.
He leaves Susan, his wife of 38 years; his sons, Ryan P. Smith and his wife, Rachel, of Auburn, and Matthew J. Smith of Saugus and his partner, Kiley Ruelle; three grandchildren, Raleigh, Callum and Mason; his sister, Kim Clifford, and her husband, James; and brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews. He was the son of the late Michael J. Smith Sr. and Catherine T. (Ryan) Smith, and the son-in-law of the late Vincent J. Mazzarella and Emily (Bergamasco) Mazzarella.
Visiting hours are Friday, November 13, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Vertuccio Smith & Vazza Beechwood Home for Funerals, 262 Beach Street, Revere. His Funeral Mass is Saturday, November 14, at 11 a.m. at St. Anthony of Padua Church, 250 Revere Street, Revere; the family asks those attending to go directly to the church. Burial follows at Woodlawn Cemetery in Everett.
Compiled from information published by Vertuccio Smith & Vazza Beechwood Home for Funerals, 262 Beach Street, Revere. Photograph courtesy of the family via Vertuccio Smith & Vazza. This is our own summary, not the family’s obituary; read the full obituary and leave a condolence at the funeral home’s website. Corrections: we will fix any error promptly.