Shirley C. Smith

WALLINGFORD - Shirley C. Smith, of Ashlar Village, died Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011, at the Masonic Health Center after a brief illness. In the face of life's final ordeal, her remarkable courage and kindness were an inspiration to all her friends and family.

She was born at home in Woodmont, on July 10, 1924, the daughter of the late Raymond M. Cass and Esther Treat Cass. In 1944 she married Merwin B. Smith, who died in 2005.

Shirley graduated from Smith College in 1945, and after World War II moved with her husband to Ohio, where they both made many enduring friendships and formed community in all the places they resided. A devoted practitioner of finding and forming community throughout her life, Shirley kept regular contact with the friends they shared through the years, from childhood through adulthood. She was active in church and community organizations, and held offices as president of the board of deacons and treasurer of the Women's Fellowship at Plymouth Church in Shaker Heights, Ohio; president of the Sassy Cat - a philanthropic consignment shop in Chagrin Falls, Ohio; and was a board member of the Snow Library in Orleans, Mass., where she was also chair of the annual book sale. The community at Ashlar Village was her final, and deeply loved, community of friends.

Shirley is survived by two daughters and sons-in-law, Lynn and Mike Rodgers, of Beaumont, Texas, and Marcia and Don Klepper-Smith, of Durham.; three grandchildren, Jennifer Rodgers, Lee (Klepper-Smith) Chometa, and Dana Klepper-Smith; one half-brother, Reed Cass, of Cromwell; one half-sister, Alice Mohr, of Miami, Fla.; and many, many dear friends. She was preceded in death by a brother, Raymond M. Cass, Jr.

Shirley, we who knew you, love you and celebrate you. You set a good example not by preaching or teaching, but by living.

A memorial service will be held at Ashlar Village in the spring at a time to be announced later. There are no calling hours. Burial will be private. If friends wish, gifts in her memory may be made to the Masonic Charity Foundation Grant and Aid Fund, P.O. Box 70, Wallingford, CT 06492, the First Congregational Church Memorial Fund, 23 South Main St., Wallingford, CT 06492, or Masonicare Home Health and Hospice. The B.C. Bailey Funeral Home, of Wallingford is in charge of arrangements. To leave messages of sympathy please visit www.BCBailey.com.