Franklin County Coroner Shawn Stuart said Wednesday that the couple died in a camper fire at the Township 19 Recreation and Game Club on Pitchfork Pond Road in Tupper Lake on Saturday morning. He said the cause of death was smoke inhalation.

Franklin County Emergency Services Coordinator Ricky Provost said the state is investigating the cause of the fire as an “accidental” case.

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Advocates, friends

Kerry Jacobs was a Tribal Victim Advocate with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. (Provided photo)

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Smiddy, 53, and Jacobs, 48, were both from Fort Covington.

Jacobs was a victim advocate with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, working to prevent child abuse, exploitation and trafficking, and working with victims.

“Kerry uplifted the wounded victims back to an empowered state, as a strong-willed woman that worked tirelessly to the end,” the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe wrote in a press release. “She would instinctively strive to help anyone at any time — regardless of it being her job, or not. That was Kerry’s way, as she naturally cared.

“Kerry and her life partner Thomas Smiddy began their journey into the spirit world on Saturday,” the press release reads. “We will sorely miss her dimples, laughter and driving force.”

Members of United Auto Workers Local 465, a union which represents General Motors employees at its plant in Massena, came together on Facebook to send prayers to Smiddy’s family and to mourn their retired co-worker.

Memorial posts on Facebook were filled with comments from people sharing how the couple helped them through tough times — through their jobs, or just as friends.

The people who knew Smiddy and Jacobs best said they were both incredibly generous with their time, whether it was Jacobs helping low-income families file their income taxes and volunteering with the Akwesasne Holiday Helpers, or Smiddy doing fuel deliveries for the elderly and helping friends with household projects.

They also knew how to have a good time. Their friends shared photos of them at camp parties and holiday get-togethers, smiling, holding beers and talking with the people they were closest to.

Dawn Sisto remembers Smiddy once told her “Dawn, you only live once.” She said he lived by this motto.

Sisto’s fiancee was good friends with Smiddy, she said. They were always hunting, camping or working on their trailers and homes together.

“Tommy was here whenever Bryan needed a hand,” Sisto wrote in a Facebook post.

“Please come back over for that one last beer!!,” she wrote to her two friends. “We had so many more plans together. God must of had something better for you two.”

Lori Laffin, a childhood friend of Jacobs, said Jacobs brought food to the elderly during the coronavirus pandemic and held hands with people who lost family members to the virus.

Laffin said she was the first friend Jacobs made when she moved to Akwesasne. They were both 12 years old. Throughout the years, Laffin said they took care of each other’s children as they grew up, caught up whenever their busy schedules allowed and shared a lot of laughs.

“She was like a sister to me,” Laffin told the Enterprise on Tuesday.

“Kerry’s smile was always a comfort and her laugh would make you laugh and forget what we were talking about,” Laffin wrote on Facebook.

Everyone knew who Jacobs was, Laffin said, because she had helped them out in some way.

“Your kindness for this community will never be forgotten,” Laffin wrote on Facebook. “Thank you Kerry Jacobs for being the amazing friend, mother, grandmother, sister, daughter to everyone in your life. You will never be forgotten love you always my friend rest in love.”

She said Smiddy was a quiet, loving man. Sisto remembered when “Tommy” first saw Jacobs.

“It must have been love at first sight,” she wrote.

They started a family together and were together for 18 years, Laffin said.

“He took on her children as his own,” Laffin said. “And she did the same thing for his kids.”

They had a son together, as well.

“I had never seen her so happy as when they had Aidan,” Laffin said.

They had grandchildren, too.

Laffin said Jacobs had a loving life partner, a large family, lots of friends, and an important job bringing comfort and aid to those in need.

“She got everything she ever wanted in life,” Laffin said. “But she’s gone too soon.”