Lucy Vanice Smith Thompson, Early Indianapolis Performer, Devoted Nurse, and Mother of Seven, Dies at 98

Lucy Vanice Smith Thompson passed peacefully in her home on February 11, 2026, at 7:27 p.m., after nearly a century of living through the kind of history most people only read about.

Vanice was born August 27, 1927, in Crystal City, Missouri. When she was still a baby, her family moved to Indianapolis, Indiana, where she grew up and where her voice first found a stage.

As a young woman she performed under the name Vanice Smith, singing and dancing during the vibrant era of Black music along Indianapolis’ historic Indiana Avenue. She performed with a group called 3 Kings and A Queen, and on July 30, 1949, she appeared in the Indianapolis Recorder as one of the performers chosen for “Sepia,” a live WFBM broadcast described at the time as the first all-Black television show in Indianapolis.

For a moment in history, Vanice stood at the edge of something new. Television was just beginning, and she was among the artists stepping through the door.

Her musical life also placed her within Indianapolis’ jazz community, where she performed alongside guitarist Wes Montgomery, long before the world knew his name.

Vanice sometimes told the story of a fellow performer who invited her to Europe to dance. For reasons of her own she decided not to go and life would eventually asked something different of her. Vanice stepped away from the stage and became the mother of seven children, a role that demanded more endurance than applause.

She was not a sentimental woman. She spoke plainly and expected people to stand on their own feet. People from that generation often believed love meant preparing children for hardship, not protecting them from it, and Vanice carried that belief into the way she raised her family.

Vanice worked as a nurse for decades and continued well into her 80s. She worked to keep a roof over her children’s heads, clothes on their backs, and food on the table.

But music never left her. The stage simply moved into the living room. She loved musicals, especially Camelot and The Sound of Music, and she could still sing “Tennessee Waltz.” She also loved comedy. Katt Williams made her laugh, and she liked to remind people she was older than Wonder Bread.

If she had taken that trip to Europe long ago, this family’s story might look very different. But she stayed. And because she stayed, generations followed.

Vanice is survived by her seven children: Debra Young, Normie Thompson, Kelsey Thompson, Toni Thompson, Norman Thompson, Vincent Thompson, and Britt Thompson, along with grandchildren and extended family.

A private memorial gathering will be held among her grandchildren on April 4, 2026. There will not be a formal funeral service.

Friends or members of the community interested in attending or helping organize a larger memorial celebrating Vanice’s life may contact the family at service@mortasayvision.com. Flowers may be sent to 19508 Colvic Dr., Noblesville IN 46060.