Wanda M. Smith

Wanda M. Smith, age 92, of Bryan, Ohio, entered her heavenly home at 12:50 A.M. on Wednesday, October 31, 2012, at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where she had been a patient since Friday. Mrs. Smith was a 1938 graduate of Ney High School and also graduated from International Business College in Fort Wayne. She was a loving homemaker and worked alongside of her husband on the Centennial Jerger-Smith family farm during their married life and remained there until her passing. She was an active member of Bryan First Brethren Church, where she was a member of the church choir and the Women’s Missionary Society, and was a member of the Northwest Ohio Mothers of Twins Club and the Williams and Defiance County Genealogical Societies. She was also an avid reader and an excellent seamstress and enjoyed crosswords, gardening, all kinds of music and playing the piano. In her retirement, she was a reading tutor with the Laubach Adult Reading Program in both Ohio and Florida and kept up with her family and friends on a regular basis through the Internet. Wanda M. Smith was born on February 4, 1920, in Springfield Township of Williams County, Ohio, the daughter of Ray and Ollie (Stratton) Fritszche. After the passing of her mother when she was thirteen days old, she was raised in the home of her aunt and uncle, Bert and Dessie Winter, until her marriage to Stanley R. Smith on December 14, 1941, in Ney, Ohio, who preceded her in death on March 26, 1986. Survivors include two sons, Wayne (Susan) Smith, of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Gary (Linda) Smith, of Perrysburg, Ohio; two daughters, Mary Smith, of Bryan, and Martha Smith, of Huntington, Indiana; four grandchildren, Julie (Col. David) Bliesner, Dr. Jeffrey (Pam) Smith, Brad (Amy) Smith and Stephanie (Jared) Kies; twelve great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nephews and nieces. She was also preceded in death by her parents, her adoptive parents and two sisters, Celia Coil and Dorothy Bowman. Visitation will be held on Friday, November 2, 2012, from 2:00-8:00 P.M. in the Krill Funeral Home, 860 West Mulberry Street, Bryan. Services will be held on Saturday, November 3, 2012, at 11:00 A.M. in the Bryan First Brethren Church with Pastor Wayne Gropp and Pastor Brent Sloan officiating. Visitation will also be held in the church one hour prior to the service, beginning at 10:00 A.M. Interment will follow in Shiffler Cemetery, near Bryan. Memorials are requested to Bryan First Brethren Church or a charity of the donor’s choice.