She never married. She had no known heirs except for an elderly female companion who shared her flat.
She died on September 18, 1951, penniless and obscure.
There was no funeral procession to honor her life.
There was no memorial service to touch upon the impact one day her work would have upon her admirers.
Her grave site, if one exists, remains unknown.
She died disappointed that her paintings and writings had failed to achieve success, yet she never stopped believing in herself.
All of her personal possessions were sold at auction -- books, manuscripts, prayer books, paintings, drawings, furniture, even her personal letters -- to satisfy her debts. Thus, despite her last wishes, her companion and heir was deprived of any inheritance, and everything went to strangers.
Except for a few exhibitions during her early career that had moderate success, much of her work has disappeared.
Pamela Colman Smith would be all but forgotten, except for the seventy-eight tarot paintings known as the Rider-Waite Tarot pack. She would no doubt be astonished and gladdened to know that today the deck touches the hearts and emotions of millions of people.
from The Encyclopedia of Tarot, Volume III, by Stuart R. Kaplan
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