Marjorie Anita (Stauffer) Smith, 103

Marjorie Anita (Stauffer) Smith of Ashland died in Ashland at the age of 103. She was born on the family farm near Smithville, Ohio to the late Marvin W. and Emily A. (Lehman) Stauffer.

She graduated from Wooster High School and received her teaching certificate from Ashland College.

Later, she returned to Ashland College and earned a B.S. degree in Education in 1962.

Marjorie began her teaching career in a two-room schoolhouse in Wayne County where she taught grades 1-4 while her father taught grades 5-8 in the same school. She moved to Ashland in 1939 and resumed teaching with a position at Montgomery School in 1956, where she taught the 4th Grade and sometimes the 3rd and 5th grades.

She was an active member of the Christ United Methodist Church where she served as Director of Christian Education, leader of the children’s choir, Sunday school teacher, and a member of the United Gleaners Sunday School Class. She also served as President of the United Methodist Women and a lay delegate to the East Ohio Conference. She was a former Girl Scout Leader and served many times as a camp counselor at Camp Wanake, where she helped to develop the early stages of the camp. She was a member of the Ashland County Historical Society, the Ashland County Retired Teachers’ Association, the American Association of University Women, the Associated Charities, and the Genealogy Society.
June 17, 1939 she married Donald D. Smith, a founder of the Hydr-O-Matic Pump Company.

He preceded her in death on February 1, 1998.

She and her late husband Donald spent 17 winters in Sun City, AZ where she was active in the United Methodist Women and the Bell Choir at Willowbrook United Methodist Church.

She is survived by two daughters, Norma (Rev. Harold M.) Stockman of Springboro, OH and Emily (Donald) Curie of Orrville, OH; two grandsons, J. Martin Stockman and Dr. Nathan P. (Amy) Stockman and one great grandson Zachary Andrew Stockman. Also surviving are one sister, E. Arlene (Robert) Pierson.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by four sisters (Hildreth Schwan, Miriam Shisler, Wilma Rich, and Dorothy DeMass) and one brother (Marvin Stauffer.)

Memorial services will be held, Saturday, May 13, 2017 at 11:00 a.m. at the Christ United Methodist Church, 1140 Claremont Avenue, Ashland, Ohio 44805 with the Rev. Dr. Allan Bevere and the Rev. Harold M. Stockman officiating. Friends may visit with the family one hour prior to the service from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the church. Burial will be in the Ashland Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Donald and Marjorie Smith Scholarship Fund at Christ United Methodist Church, 1140 Claremont Ave., Ashland, OH 44805.

For those not able to attend, online expressions of sympathy may be made by visiting the funeral home website denbowfh.com.

Denbow-Gasche Funeral Home & Crematory is handling the arrangements.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Marjorie Anita Smith, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.