Notes |
- Mary Elizabeth was the daughter of L. L. and Deborah Jane Chandler Kyle. She was born in New Mexico in 1910, while it was still a Territory and before it became a state. Her father was serving as a pioneer Baptist Missionary in New Mexico, operating from a ranch homestead at Elida, NM, when Mary was born. A family move to Clovis, NM was made when Mary entered the first grade and her three older brothers entered high school. They lived there eight years.
The Rev. and Mrs. Kyle and Mary moved to Olton as Mary entered high school. Following her graduation, Mary attended Wayland Baptist College to secure a teaching certificate. Continuing summer classes in Wayland, and Texas Tech, she upgraded her qualifications as she taught two years in Mayfield schools and two years in Iowa Avenue (near Hale Center, TX).
W. B. Smith, Jr., locally known as "Bill" was graduated from Hale Center, TX schools, and as an unmarried deacon in the Baptist church, had begun farming operations before he met Mary Kyle. The newly-arrived little blonde was a teacher in nearby Iowa Avenue school. A brief courtship resulted in a Dallas wedding at the home of her brother, Roy Kyle, July 23, 1936.
In 1937, the young Smiths took over publication of "The Olton Enterprise", a weekly newspaper originated by her father several years earlier. Without benefit of experience, the couple sold the ads, wrote the news, repaired the machinery, and spent many sleepless nights printing, folding and readying the weekly papers for Friday's mail.
Bill was called into the service of his county during World War II. He was assigned to Beach Patrol in the Coast Guard stationed in Florida. They went to stay with her brother, Roy and Hazel Kyle in Dallas, Texas while awaiting his orders.. A daughter, Hazel Elizabeth was born there in 1942. When Bill received a medical discharge in 1944, the Smiths returned to Olton and resumed the newspaper task. A son, Billy Roy, was born in 1946.
In 1950, after selling the newspaper, they purchased and operated Olton Hardware for six years. Thereafter, Bill managed the swimming pool at Olton Recreation Center for ten years, and also served as Municipal Judge of Olton.
Retiring in 1975, the couple bought a motor home so that Bill could enjoy more of his chief recreation - fishing. But failing health has limited this activity greatly. Bill and Mary moved into Runningwater Draw Care Center in Olton, TX in 1994.
Social Security Death Index
Name: Mary E. Smith
SSN: 457-62-4035
Last Residence: 75137 Duncanville, Dallas, Texas, United States of America
Born: 19 Apr 1910
Died: 4 Nov 1998
State (Year) SSN issued: Texas (1956 )
Texas Death Index, 1903-2000 Record
Name: Mary Smith
Death Date: 4 Nov 1998
Death County: Hale (Hale Center, TX Hospital. HB)
Gender: Female
Mary E. Smith
OLTON - Mary E. Smith, 88, died Wednesday, Nov. 4, 1998.
Services will be at 10 a.m. Monday in First Baptist Church with the
Rev. Kyle Streun, pastor, officiating. Burial will be in Plainview
Memorial Park in Plainview by Foskey-Lilley-McGill Funeral Home.
Mrs. Smith was born in Elida, N.M., and moved to Olton in 1926. She
graduated from Olton High School and attended Texas Tech University
and Wayland Baptist College in Plainview. She was a member of Olton
First Baptist Church.
She married William B. Smith in 1936 at Dallas.
Survivors include her husband; a daughter, Hazel E. Bonner of
Springfield, Va.; a son, Billy Roy Smith of Duncanville; three
grandchildren; and a greatgranddaughter.
The family suggests memorials be to Runningwater Draw Care Center,
P.O. Box 409, Olton, TX 79064.
Smith, Mary Elizabeth Kyle 13584770
b. Apr. 19, 1910 d. Nov. 4, 1998 Plainview Memorial Park
Plainview (Hale County)
Hale County
Texas, USA
Mary married William Bailey Smith, Jr., on 23 Jul 1936 in Dallas, Dallas County, Texas. They had two children, Billy Roy and Hazel Elizabeth.
Family links:
Parents:
Leonard Lloyd Kyle (1868 - 1930)
Deborah Jane Chandler Kyle (1871 - 1944)
Spouse:
William Bailey Smith (1912 - 2004)
Some Sibling:
Forrest Leland Kyle (1899 - 1968)*
Mary Elizabeth Kyle Smith (1910 - 1998)
http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=smith&GSfn=mary&GSiman=1&GScid=6038&GRid=13584770&
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