Betty Lee Smith

COOS RIVER - A private family gathering for Betty Lee Smith, 84, of Coos River, will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 26, at the Smith family home with Pastor Ross Wilbanks, of Charleston Community Church officiating. Cremation was at Ocean View Memory Gardens in Coos Bay. Inurnment will be City View Cemetery in Salem and Coos River Cemetery. Betty was born October 11, 1921, in Salem, the youngest of four children in the home of Lee and Meta (Weiglenda) Eyerly. She died November 22, 2005, in Coos River. She started school in Waldport, but soon moved back to Salem, where she continued her education and graduated from Salem High School in 1939. She attended San Mateo Junior College in California, where she met and later married Raleigh Wirth, Jr. When the war broke out they were living in Sacramento, Calif. When Raleigh joined the U.S. Air Force, Betty moved back to Salem and lived with her parents, working several jobs but mainly at Miller's Department Store. She also rode horses and won a trophy at the Oregon State Fair. After the war, they were living near Kansas City, Mo., where Raleigh was a pilot for the TWA. Their son, Pat, was born in Kansas City. They moved to Long Island, New York, where their second son, Bart, was born. They later divorced and Betty and her boys moved back to Oregon, where she met and later married T. Kenneth Smith on June 1, 1950, in Reno, Nev. They moved on to the Smith dairy farm up South Coos River and lived there always, in the same house. Their daughter, Vonnie, was born and completed their family. Betty loved animals and always had dogs and cats, along with an extensive collection of frogs, cloth and figurines. She loved all flowers and had many indoor and outdoor plants. She liked crossword puzzles and solved them with a pen. She is survived by her husband, T. Kenneth Smith; children and spouses, Pat and Terri (Judson) Wirth, Bart and Sue (Anderson) Wirth and Carl and Vonnie (Smith) Major, all of Coos Bay; grandchildren and spouses, Scott and Julee (Nelson) Wirth of Coos Bay, Jeff and Molly (Wirth) Messerle of Coquille, Ric and Shari (Wirth) Dowling of Bandon, Jason and Sandi (Wirth) Holmes of Lake Placid, Fla., Steve and Meghan (Major) Wilson of Allegany and Lane Major of North Bend; and great-grandchildren, Ryan and Braden Wirth, Lexie and Cameron Dowling, Walker Holmes, Tyler Wilson and Bo Messerle. Betty was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Harry and Jack Eyerly of Salem; and sister, Berneece Smith of Bonners Ferry, Idaho. The family suggests memorial contributions to Pacific Cove Humane Society, P.O. Box 361, North Bend, OR 97459; or Coos County Animal Control, 695 South Port Road, Coos Bay, OR 97420. Arrangements are under the direction of Coos Bay Chapel, (541) 267-3131. Sign the guest book at http://www.the worldlink.com.