Notes on Thomas Smith (1865

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Notes on Thomas Smith

From the Oelwein Register, January 1953.

Thomas Smith Rites Tuesday ---------------------------------------           Last rites for Thomas Smith, 87, 117 1st Ave. N.W., have been planned for Tuesday. Mr. Smith died at his home at 10 a. m. Sunday.
          Services will be at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Brant funeral chapel with burial in Woodlawn cemetery. The body will lie in state at the Brant funeral home.
          Mr. Smith, who was engaged in real estate, was a pioneer resident of Oelwein, and had been in the mercantile business with his brother for a number of years before going into the real estate and insurance business. He was a director of the First National Bank.
          Survivors are his wife and one son, Keith, of Reinbeck; one brother, Richard, and a sister, Mrs. Sarah Huntington, both of Oelwein.
          He was born May 11, 1865, in England, the son of Sam W. and Hannah Park Smith, and had lived in the United States for 82 years.
          He had lived in Oelwein for the past 61 years.

From the Oelwein Register, Tuesday, January 20, 1953.

OBITUARY Thomas Smith --------------------
          Thomas Smith was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, England, May 11, 1865, the son of Hannah Park and Samuel Smith. He received his education in the Oelwein schools.
          On Oct. 29, 1889, he married Ella Armstrong, Iowa Falls. She died Sept. 20, 1902, following the birth of a daughter. Dec. 29, 1904, he married Aura C. Hadley, Iowa Falls. They had one son who died in infancy. In April 1913, the couple adopted a son, Thomas Keith. Mrs. Smith died Sept 22, 1935.
          Nov. E, 1938, he married Minnie E. Clow, Fairbank, who survives. From 1898-1904, he was associated with his brother, Richard, in the grocery business. They established a real estate and insurance business in which Mr. Smith was engaged until the time of his death.
          Active in community activities, Mr. Smith helped establish the local radio station. He was a director of the Oelwein Federal Savings and Loan, director of the First National bank of Oelwein for 40 years and served as vice-president for the past 15 years.
          Besides business, Smith was also active in the Church of Christ. He was a Bible school teacher, elder and trustee.
          His parents and three sisters, Mrs. George Schneider, Mrs. E. E. Day and Mrs. Floyd Martin preceded him in death. Survivors include his wife; a son, Thomas Keith, and daughter-in-law, Marian, and Gary, his only grandson, of Reinbeck; a sister, Mrs. Sarah Huntington and a brother, Richard H. Smith, both of Oelwein and nieces and nephews.
          Mr. Smith died Jan. 18 at his home at 117 1st Ave. N.W. Services were at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 20, at Brant Funeral home with burial in Woodlawn.

From the Oelwein Register, September 1935.

Mrs. Thomas Smith -- Obituary -----------------------------------------
          The funeral services of Mrs. Thomas Smith were held from the Grace Methodist Episcopal Church Tuesday afternoon, Rev. C. L. McKim, of Des Moines, in charge of the services. Miss Kate Kappes and Mrs. Ellen Ervine sang two selections, with Mrs. J. C. Leaton at the organ.
          Burial was on the family lot of Woodlawn cemetery.
          Aura C. Hadley was born September 24th, 1872, at Richland, Iowa. She was the daughter of B. H. and Eliza Hadley. She came with her parents, when she was a child eight years of age, from Richland to Iowa Falls, where she received her early education,--first in the Public Schools and later in the High School.
          She was united in marriage to Thomas Smith on December the 29th, 1904. They established their home in Oelwein. Two children came into their home, of which Thomas Hadley preceded her in death.
          She became a member of the Church in the time of her youth. And to her home and to her church she gave her very best. For her, the Church stood for a Christian ideal. To her it represented the best expression in the community of the best in men and women. The Church may be multiplied in two ways,--in numbers, adding new members to the church roll; and in quality and value. Sister Smith was a multiplier. Her zeal, her beauty of fellowship and consecrated service, her spiritual life multiplied the value of each member of the church and the membership of the churches of the community. We think of Mrs. Smith as one who belongs to the very choicest of souls. She was the Unit leader of Unit NO. 8 of the Ladies Aid Society and her whole unit was enriched and beautified with her presence and leadership, and through her consecration the whole Ladies Aid was enriched and multiplied. The same may be said of her in connection with her work as a member of the Official Board, as worker in the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society, on the District and at home and in the Sunday School,--everywhere life was beautified with her presence. Now she has gone from us to the Church Triumphant.
          She departed from this life last Sunday morning, September 22nd, 1935, after a lingering illness of a number of weeks. She is being survived by her grief stricken husband: Thomas Smith and her son T. Keith, who is a student of the Iowa State Teachers' College at Cedar Falls, and one sister; Mrs Charles Derbyshire and one brother, D. C. Hadley, both of Iowa Falls, and other relatives and a host of esteemed friends.

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