Obituaries: Oleta Bess Smith (Nov. 25, 1920 – July 15, 2011)

Born November 25, 1920, in Port, Okla., the sixth of 10 children to Wirt and Elsie Lucas. She was raised on a horse-powered farm during the dust bowl years, picking cotton and baling hay until leaving for college in 1938. She was Valedictorian at Port High School. She met her future husband Howard Smith in Oregon where she was teaching school and he was in basic training for the Army during WWII.

They moved to Crescent City in 1954. He worked as a lab and x-ray technician for area doctors until his retirement in 1985. She worked as a medical records technician for Seaside Hospital. She could be heard every week for many years on the local radio program called “Who’s New in Pink and Blue” featuring the hospital’s newborns and their mothers.

The couple were members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church and were active in the church’s youth programs for many years.

They enjoyed the outdoors, camping, hiking, bird watching and rock collecting. She moved to Sonoma in 2001.

Oleta is survived by son, Stanley Smith and daughter-in-law Earlene of Sonora, Calif., grandchildren, Jamil Bailey of Elbert, Calif., and Lahna Von Epps, of  Sonora, Calif., brother, Carlyle Lucas and sister-in-law Grace of Clinton, Mo.

She was preceded in death by her father, Wirt Lucas in 1971, mother Elsie Lucas in1979 and husband Howard Smith in 1994.

A graveside service will be held September 16, 2011, at 4 p.m. at Veteran’s Cemetery in Crescent City. A memorial service will be held September 17, at 2 p.m. at The Seventh Day Adventist Church.

— Submitted by Family