Claude M. Smead

WEST SWANZEY, N.H. -- Claude M. Smead, 88, of 627 West Swanzey Road, died Thursday morning, Sept. 15, 2005, at his home following a period of failing health.

He was born in Springfield, Mass., on March 30, 1917, the son of Frank C. and Jessie (Pike) Smead and had resided in Newfane and Putney, Vt., prior to moving to Swanzey in 1950.

He served in the Army during World War II. He was a pilot before the war, and became a flight instructor following his tour of duty. While in the Army from 1943 to 1946, he was stationed in Los Alamos, N.M.

He had been a flight instructor at the Keene Airport. In July 1956, he was admitted to membership with the U.S. Power Squadron, where he was able to guide tours in any nautical waters in the United States.

Mr. Smead began making baskets at the age of 12, learning from his father, who worked in West River Basket Co. (now Basketville) in Putney. He started out working nights, after school and weekends. Following his mentors, he increased his knowledge of basket making until he opened his own store and manufacturing business.

He was the owner and proprietor of Smead's Basket Factory for a very long time. The Boston Globe wrote up a two-page article on May 19, 2005, entitled “A Life Woven in Wood.”

One of the main reasons Mr. Smead came to be associated with pack baskets was his association with L.L. Bean, for whom he prototyped his first model in the 1950s, going on to sell thousands to the outdoor outfitter over a period of more than 30 years.

Throughout his career, Mr. Smead has made lunch baskets, pie baskets, berry baskets, laundry baskets, peach baskets, letter baskets and more. His signature piece was the pack basket, a woven wood backpack with straps that symbolized all things in the North Woods.

Mr. Smead was the oldest living traditional maker of this kind of basket, says Gerald DeMuro, president of Heritage Mills. “He does everything. He cuts up trees, brushes the planks, and makes his product on original equipment. Nothing is automated; it is the purest form of manufacturing,” DeMuro said.

Heritage Mills recently nominated Mr. Smead for the New Hampshire governor's Lotte Jacobi Living Treasure Award, which recognized the lifetime achievement of a New Hampshire artist who has made a significant contribution to his or her art form. Its nomination has been seconded by representatives from the Historical Society of Cheshire County, the League of New Hampshire Craftsmen, The Keene Sentinel, the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests and many others.

Among his love of working with wood, he enjoyed fishing.

He was a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church located in Swanzey.

Survivors include his wife of 56 years, Margaret (Curtis) Smead of West Swanzey; a daughter, Lorna Mae (Pastor Daniel) Zabaleta of White Plains, N.Y.; a sister-in-law, Laurea Smead of Putney; two grandchildren, David Zabaleta of Teaticket, Mass., and Lynn Marie Zabaleta of South Lancaster, Mass.; a great-grandson, Kyle Zableta of Teaticket; and several nieces and nephews.

Services for Mr. Smead will be held Monday at 2 p.m. at the Seventh-day Adventist Church located at 42 Furbush Lane off Route 12 in Swanzey, just south and across the street from the Toyota-Volvo garage in Swanzey. Friends are invited.

Calling hours will be held at the Fletcher Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 33 Marlboro St., Keene.

Burial will take place at the family lot in the Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Putney at 4 p.m.

It has been requested that gifts be made in memory of Mr. Smead, to the Smead Memorial Fund at the Seventh-day Adventist Church, P.O. Box 938, Keene, NH 03431.

The FLETCHER FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, 33 Marlboro St., Keene, is in charge of the arrangements.u