Dorothy Mae Smith
December 10, 1922 - June 6, 2015
Obituary
Dorothy Mae Smith
Our beloved wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother passed away peacefully at home after a yearlong illness on Sat. June 6, 2015.
Dorothy, also known affectionately as Dot or Smitty, was born on 12/10/1922 in Miles City, Montana the youngest of 7 children to Isaac and Gertrude Vest. She was predeceased by all of her immediate family.
Her early education was at Spring Creek country school where her older sister, Virginia Wintermote was the school teacher. She attended Miles City High School and graduated in 1941. She entered Nursing School at the Presentation School of Nursing at Holy Rosary Hospital in Miles City. A year later she eloped and married her husband, Robert B. Smith on 8/4/1942. Bob went off to the Army Air Corp and WWII. Dorothy completed her RN training as the Valedictorian and graduated in 1944. She then moved to Seattle where she began work at the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital caring for the hundreds of children afflicted with Polio. She also taught Red Cross Classes. Dorothy enjoyed and was committed to her nursing profession and her co-workers who were often her friends as well. She loved cooking and organizing parties for family, friends, bowling, doing volunteer work for various groups. Dorothy worked as an RN for 40 years, half of that time as a Nursing Supervisor in a local hospital. She and her husband enjoyed traveling, cruises and Hawaii. After retirement they were able to spend 20 years RV-ing with the Spikehorns RV Group and other friends and family. These most recent years she enjoyed being with family especially her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She often said these past few months “Our family is so blessed!”
Dorothy is survived by her loving husband of 72 years Robert, by her children Barbara Fredrickson (Bruce), Bob Smith Jr. (Judi), and Cindy Elliott; by her grandchildren Christina, Daniel, Stephanie, Marisa, Kyle Anne and Nolan; and by 8 great grandchildren including Violet Mae Smith, her namesake. She was such a big part of our family life and she will be greatly missed.
A celebration of life will be held on Friday June 19th at 11:00am at Bonney-Watson, SeaTac, WA. Reception to follow at same location