Fashion icon, Southmoreland graduate B. Smith dies at 70

Fashion icon and Everson native Barbara “B.” Smith, who also became a restaurateur and author, died Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020, at her home on Long Island, N.Y., her family announced on social media.

She was 70.

Smith was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s disease in 2013, when she was 64. Following her diagnosis, she and her husband, Dan Gasby, worked to raise awareness of the disease and its impacts on the African-American community. Her death was announced by Gasby via a Facebook post.

“It is with great sadness that my daughter Dana and I announce the passing of my wife, Barbara Elaine Smith,” he wrote, along with a thanks to the doctors who helped them in B.’s last days. “Heaven is shining even brighter now that it is graced with B.’s dazzling and unforgettable smile.”

Smith, born in Everson, graduated from Southmoreland High School and attended modeling school in Pittsburgh. At the age of 27, in 1976, she became the second African-American woman to appear on the cover of Mademoiselle magazine, after Joli Jones in 1969.

In her heyday, she appeared on 15 magazine covers, multiple television and radio ads and worked as a product spokeswoman for Verizon, Colgate Palmolive Oxy and McCormick’s Lawry seasonings.

She opened restaurants in Washington D.C., Sag Harbor, N.Y., and Times Square in New York City. They have since closed, according to her website.

Smith also authored three cookbooks and an autobiography she co-wrote with Gasby. She also launched a nationally syndicated television show — B. Smith with Style — and a similarly named magazine.

She went on to be recognized by Elle Decor magazine as one of America’s 10 most outstanding non-professional chefs, the first African-American woman elected to the board of trustees to the Culinary Institute of America, a founding board member of the Times Square Business Improvement District, a member of the Metro-Manhattan Chapter of the Link, the Screen Actor’s Guild, Equity and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

In 2018, Gasby revealed that he was in a relationship with another woman while caring for his ailing wife, leading to harsh criticism from some of her fans. He fired back at critics with a Facebook post about the pain of living with Alzheimer’s in the family. “I love my wife but I can’t let her take away my life,” he wrote.

Smith gave credit to her hometown in Everson for her success in a 2005 Tribune-Review article.

“I am who I am today because my parents raised me in Western Pennsylvania,” she said.

Smith is survived by Gasby, whom she married in 1992, and her stepdaughter Dana Gasby.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.