Pearl O. Smith

MARION — Pearl O. Smith, 98, passed away Sept. 5, 2007.

Pearl was born Sept. 26, 1908, the daughter of William Edgar and Ella (Tilford) Smith. She graduated from Lockyear Business College in Evansville and attended George Washington University in Washington D.C.

On vacation in Washington, she secured employment in private business and remained. Two years later, she received Civil Service appointment to a position in the Federal Government. There she was employed for 37 years as administrative assistant and executive secretary to eight successive directors of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

In 1951, the White House personnel office requested that Pearl be loaned to the President's Commission on Internal Security and Individual Rights, of which Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz (retired) was chairman. She was secretary to Admiral Nimitz and the Commission. At the end of a year, she returned to FMCS. That agency bestowed on her its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award.

A member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Pearl served as regent of her chapter for three years. She was a member of the National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. A member of several genealogical societies, the University Women's Club, the Marion Women's Club and she was a Kentucky Colonel.

Pearl's main hobby was genealogical research, and she researched, wrote and published the history of four of her ancestral families. A keen interest in history prompted her to spend twelve vacations traveling in Great Britain, Europe and the Middle East. She returned to her native Kentucky in 1992.

Surviving are a sister, Anna S. Collins of Marion; 4 nephews, Roy E. Smith of Gadsden, Ala., Tony and Jerry Collins, both of Marion, and Bill Collins of Barnhart, Miss.; and 3 nieces, Margaret Honeycutt and Juanita Eads, both of Jasper, Ala., and Anne Collins-Crider of Marion.

She was preceded in death by her parents, William E. and Ella T. Smith, 3 brothers, Bill, Roy and Leman Smith, and a sister, Ada Brown.

Funeral services are scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, 2007, at Gilbert Funeral Home, with the Rev. Mike Jones officiating. Burial will follow in Mapleview Cemetery in Marion.

Visitation will be held this evening from 6 to 8 p.m. at Gilbert Funeral Home.