William Smith Obituary
Bill and Sally Smith, both 99, recently passed away in Mountain Grove, Missouri: Sally on December 21 and Bill on December 28. Both lived in northeast Ohio, until moving to Mountain Grove, Missouri, in June of 2025 to be with their daughter, MaryBeth Kaps, and their son, Michael Smith, who both reside in Mountain Grove, Missouri. The closeness of their death is testimony to the closeness to each other and their marriage of 78 years. Both were long-time teachers in the Ashtabula, Ohio, public schools. Sally a second-grade teacher and Bill a high-school teacher and coach. After Bill retired from teaching in 1976, he purchased a 50-acre farm, raising apples, peaches, and grapes until at the age of 96 when he was unable to continue farming. Sally continued teaching until she was 65, and helped her husband run the farm, setting up among other things a bakery and storefront stand. Bill served young men in North East Ohio as a head scout master for Boy Scouts of America for over 20 years (1960-1980). Sally was an innovative teacher, using team teaching and ability grouping to help hundreds of children learn to read in the Northeast Ohio area.
During the sixth months they lived in Mountain Grove, Sally visited Bill almost every day at the Autumn Oaks Caring Center. Each day when she arrived, he told her she looked good and was so happy to see her. Bill shared that he fell in love with Sally as a fourth grader in Berea, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio), where they both grew up. In 1945 after graduating from high school, Bill enlisted in the U.S. Airforce and Sally worked at the General Motors Fisher Body Plant that was converted to a Bomber Plant, which made components for the famous B-29 Bombers.
Memorial Services for Bill and Sally will be January 9, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at Craig-Hurtt Funeral Home of Mountain Grove. The family is requesting no flowers; rather, give your donations to The Senior Center, 700 E State St, Mountain Grove, Missouri 65711
Memorial Contributions may be made to Mountain Grove Senior Center
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
315 N. Main St., Mountain Grove, MO 65711
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