Obituary of Ethel Smith

Ethel Georgina (Dawson) Smith went home to be with the Lord on December 31, 2013, at age 103. &quote;Absent from the body and present with the Lord.&quote; Ethel was born in Belfast, No. Ireland on May 3, 1910 & came to this country at age two. She was the daughter of the late Richard E. & Annie E. (McCullough) Dawson & was raised in the Chestnut Hill section of Brookline. She graduated from Brookline High School, class of 1927 & from Toronto Bible College, (now Tyndale University) class of 1931, Toronto, Canada. She was class secretary & kept in touch with classmates, putting together a class letter of updates, each Christmas, into the 1990's when the last of them passed away. She was also a speaker at her graduation. In 1936, she married Iver R. Smith and they settled in Wellesley and raised their three children there. She and Iver celebrated 40 years of marriage. He died in July 1976. Three years later she moved to Woburn. Ethel loved to garden, to read, do needlework, and also write letters. She corresponded with many missionary friends all around the world & with family members living around the country & in Ireland & Canada, right up until this past spring. Ethel was a deep student of the Bible her whole life, teaching many Sunday School classes over the years and having Children's Bible classes in her home when her children were growing up. She has read her Bible through every year since 1931, & was reading it right up until November this past year. She was also a prayer warrior. Ethel remembers growing up, of the lamplighter coming around her neighborhood each evening and lighting the gas lamps up and down her street, and of the fish and vegetable venders coming around in a horse and wagon, and the scissor grinder man would come around also, and of course the ice man. The rag man made the rounds too, and another man all the children were afraid of, as he would loudly call out, running his words together, &quote;brelly's to mend.&quote; He was the umbrella repair man. Her family had a very strong work ethic and there was NO sitting around, ever! You always had to be busy, or at least look busy, even if you weren't! In addition to her parents, and husband Iver, Ethel was preceded in death by her sisters, the late Elsie A. Unger and the late Charlotte E. Vikre. She is survived by her children, Elaine Cummings and her husband Warren, of Woburn, Norman D. Smith of Kansas, Ronald J. and his wife Virginia of Lower Waterford, Vt. Ten grandchildren, Lois Frasier & her husband, Daniel, of Boxford, Carolyn Mudge & her husband, Steven, of Marshfield, Nathan Cummings & his wife, Sara, of Woburn, Janet Cummings of Woburn, Ethan Smith of California, Jeremy Smith & his wife Isabel, of California, Amanda Smith of California, Andrew Smith & his wife, Carmen, of Burlington Vt., Rebecca Hedgepath & her husband, James, of Easley, S.C. & Timothy Smith & his wife, Joy, of Anderson, S.C., and thirteen great grandchildren, Dawson, Paige, Laura, Hannah, Griffin, Victoria, Jarred, Arlen, Pablo, Ella, Zakary, Joshua and Ellison. She also leaves 6 nieces & 3 nephews. A memorial service will be at the Church of the Open Bible, 3 Winn St., Burlington on Saturday January 11, at 11:30 am Burial will be private. Memorial donations in Ethel's honor may be made to Dublin Christian Academy, 106 Page Rd. Dublin, N.H. 03444.