jeff.waters@gaflnews.com



“I don’t need anything fancy,” says city employee Patty Smith



After leaving New Jersey, then rubbing shoulders with Cinderella at Disney World, Patty Smith decided to make Live Oak her home.

Smith works for the city of Live Oak in the finance department. She has been helping customers with their city utility accounts for about two years.

Smith knows most her customers by name and she proved that while sitting on a picnic table in a small garden outside city hall.

“Well hello, how are you,” Smith inquires of customers as they drive by. All knew Patty by name as well.

“I love the people,” Smith said as she sat at a table talking about the town she loves.

“When my customers pull up and say ‘You’re always smiling and happy,’ that makes me feel good,” Smith said with a smile and wave to another passing customer.

Smith and her family have called Live Oak home for about five years, but she feels like she always belonged here. After leaving New Jersey, Smith moved with her parents to Kissimmee where she met John, her husband of more than 23 years. She landed a job in the finance department at Disney World.

Smith said her station was across the hall from the Disney characters’ dressing rooms.

“Cinderella would come flying out and you would be like, wow,” Smith said with a twinkle in her eye.

Smith said the one thing she misses about working for Disney is being able to walk down Main Street after the park closes.

“Being able to walk down Main Street with nobody else there but you. It was magical,” she said. “You can see all the lights on and see what goes on backstage. That was the fun part.”

After about 20 years of crowds and traffic jams, Smith and her family decided a change was in order. John Smith’s parents live in Live Oak so the family decided to try a change of pace. They fell in love with the area at once.

Patty Smith said the school system here is like night and day compared to Kissimmee. Suwannee County schools are better, in her opinion.

“The school systems are really good here compared to down there,” she said.

The couple has two kids, James, 19, and daughter Kristina, 15. James is in the Army’s 3rd Brigade, 4th Division currently stationed at Fort Carson in Colorado. Before that he was stationed in Iraq, first in Kirkuk, then in Mosul.

James will be home later this month for two weeks. The family has planned a cruise to Mexico to celebrate.

“I want to get Kristina through high school and get James back home. That’s my two biggest goals right now,” Smith said. “I don’t need anything fancy.”