Obituary of Mary Smith, 84

Mary A. Smith, 84, of Stormstown, died at home, Sunday, May 21, 2017 after a brief illness and surrounded by her beloved family.

Born April 26, 1933 in Cincinnati, Iowa, she was the daughter of the late Marcus A. and Mary Ervin Moriarty. On March 7, 1953, she married James D. Smith who preceded her in death on November 25, 2005.

She is survived by three daughters, Candace Smith (Phil Hawk) of Lemont, Lori Baney (Bruce) of Stormstown and Marcella Smith (Joel Plietez) of State College and 5 grandchildren, Maxwell and Simon Hawk, Benjamin (Allie) and Sarah Baney, and Demelza Smith. In addition, she is survived by numerous nieces, nephews and brothers and sisters-in-laws.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by 8 siblings, Halcyone, Donald, Arley, Wayne, Jack, Roma, Max and Larry and one half brother, Murl.

Mary grew up on farms in rural Missouri and Iowa where one of her greatest joys was being outside and spending time with favorite animals like her dog, Tony. Even with farm chores and a tag-along younger brother, she expressed her creative and artistic side by drawing and sewing with homemade patterns. She always wanted her clothes to be different from others, which led to experiments in fabric dying , stenciling and unique trims for feedsack dresses made on a treadle sewing machine. Her favorite activity in later years was collecting, preserving and creating quilts. Family members and friends are the happy owners of many of her creations. Growing up in the depression and the early death of her father meant little money for purchased toys but as an adult, she saved many misfit and damaged toys from thrift shops to repair or dress.

She graduated in 1951 from Cincinnati High School as valedictorian of her class of 12 students. She turned down a scholarship to attend college and chose to head to the “big city” of Des Moines with her best friend to work for Banker’s Life Insurance Company. Here, she met Jim Smith, her future husband and later moved with him and their three girls from Iowa to Norman, Oklahoma for Jim’s graduate work. She typed his 1965 doctoral thesis on a Royal Manual Typewriter and did the data computations on a Friden calculator, both of which are still in her house. While Jim completed his graduate studies, Mary worked for the Federal Aviation Administration at Tinker Air Force base as a very capable secretary. When they moved to Alexandria, Virginia in 1963, Mary finally had a huge garden like the ones she grew up with. Vegetables, fruits and flowers all thrived under her care and they continued to flourish every year, no matter where she lived. After moving to State College, she volunteered for many years at the Park Forest Day Nursery, a pre-K for disadvantaged 4 and 5 year olds. Later, Mary worked for Keystone Legal Services and for more than 15 years at Ashcraft (now Ameron) Construction, where she was a valued and admired employee. When she retired, she moved to Stormstown to reside with her daughter Lori and her family, till her death.

Over her lifetime, she donated over 15 gallons of blood to the Red Cross, voted in every election she could (she sorely regretted being too young to vote for Adlai Stevenson), made untold gallons of potato salad and hundreds of deviled eggs and chocolate chip cookies because her children and grandkids loved them, always read and listened to current news and would argue politics with anyone.

Family mattered enormously to Mary – she made many trips to Iowa, Wyoming and California to visit and help her mother, siblings and nieces and nephews. She could not have been happier than to have all of her children and grandchildren living close to her. She always said her career was raising “her girls” and they will tell you she did a great job and they will miss her every day.

A private memorial service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Centre HomeCare Hospice, Suite 6, 2437 Commercial Blvd., State College, PA 16801 or the Arboretum at Penn State, 1 Old Main, University Park, PA 16802 or a charity of one’s choice.

An online guestbook can be signed or condolences made to the family at www.heintzelmanfuneralhome.com.