Ruth Howe Tyler Smith

Ruth Howe Tyler Smith of Needham, MA (formerly of Wellesley, MA, Gates Mills, OH, and Vero Beach, FL) passed away peacefully at North Hill on June 6, 2013. She was born in Wakefield, MA on December 22, 1913, to the late Ethel Howe (Perley) and Selden Williams Tyler. She is survived by four beloved children and their spouses, Pamela (Smith) and Alan K. Henrikson, Karen (Smith) and Thomas E. Melican, all of Wellesley Hills, MA, Nathaniel Tyler and Mary (Alexander) Smith of Gates Mills, OH, and Jonathan Hale and Linda (Tucker) Smith of Milton, MA. She leaves nine grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and three nieces. She was preceded in death by her brother, Warren P. Tyler, and her husband of 57 years, Everett Ware Smith. The Smiths wed in 1938 and settled in Wellesley where, during World War II, Mrs. Smith reared wo young daughters while her husband served in Cuba and the Pacific as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps. For the next thirty years Mrs. Smith was her husband's supportive companion as he pursued a career in banking at The New England Merchants National Bank in Boston and, following their 1968 move to Cleveland, OH, at AmeriTrust, from which Mr. Smith retired as Chairman. In 1974, the Smiths donated to the Wellesley Conservation Commission "Problem Rock" and its surrounding woodlands at the intersection of Dover Road and Grove Street. The parcel contains a large, geologically-significant Roxbury pudding stone. Mrs. Smith graduated from Abbott Academy and, in 1936, from Smith College with a B.A. in Economics. Smith College remained a lifelong interest: she served as class president for her 25th and 65th reunion years and was active in Smith College clubs in Wellesley, where she served as president, and in Cleveland and Vero Beach. Her keen interest in voluntarism began with the Wellesley Junior Service League and the League of Women Voters and included garden clubs, churches, and museums in the Boston and Cleveland areas. In Wellesley, she served as president of the Hills Garden Club and of St. Andrew's Church Service League; in Cleveland, she served as a board member of the Intown Club and as secretary of the World Affairs Council. Her lifelong interest in art made her an early and enthusiastic member of the Ladies Committee at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Women's Committee of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Mrs. Smith was a wonderful storyteller with an e asy laugh and gift for appreciating the many blessings of her long and happy life. She shared that positive spirit with her devoted family, caregivers, and friends. She will be interred privately in the family's North Andover plot. A memorial service will be held on Thursday, July 18 at 4 p.m. at St. Andrew's Episcopal C hurch, 79 Denton Road, Wellesley (781-235-7310). All friends and relatives are warmly invited to attend. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church or to Smith College, Development Office, Northampton, MA 01063.