SMITH (Wooddell),
Helen Mildred
Passed away peacefully on January 30, 2022, at her home in Redlands, CA. She was 101 and a half years young.
Helen was the daughter of Byron and Mary Wooddell of Springfield, Ohio. She was born the 23rd of August, 1920, in Springfield, Ohio. She
attended Waterpark Elementary School, Schaefer Junior High School, and Springfield Senior High, from which she graduated in January of 1939.
She worked as a secretary for Crowell-Collier Publishing Co. in Springfield and worked for the Federal Government at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where she met Edward H. Smith, whom she married in December of 1942. Edward also worked for the Federal Government and they transferred to Memphis, TN, where he worked for 5 years before being transferred to Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino, CA.
The two made their home in Redlands, CA, raising their two children Richard and Terry. Helen was involved in Parent-Teacher Associations, was a Cub Scout den mother and served as an assistant troop leader for Brownie and Girl Scout troops. In 1968 she took a variety of classes at San Bernardino Valley College, in subjects including business, economics and medical terminology. Throughout her life, she enjoyed sewing, trying new recipes, traveling and square dancing. She and her husband danced with the 'Sunkissed Squares' and the 'Who Goofed' Squares in the 1970s and 1980s. Helen was also the Smith family genealogist and archivist, tracing back the family roots to the early 1700s. She loved the mystery of genealogy, similar to her enjoyment of solving crossword puzzles.
Helen lived in Redlands until her passing. She is preceded in death by her husband, Edward Smith, who passed away on June 10, 2002.
She is survived by her sister, Wanda Wentz of Springfield, Ohio; son, Richard Lynn Smith and his wife, Susan of Scottsdale, AZ; daughter, Terry Anne Saucedo of Redlands, CA; six grandchildren, Christopher Smith, Nicole Irwin, Stephanie Smith, Eric Smith, Christina Saucedo-Martinez and Elizabeth Gunn; and four great-grandchildren, Nolan and Kellan Irwin and Bennett and Asher Saucedo-Martinez.
Burial will be at Glen Haven Memorial Gardens in New Carlisle, Ohio. No services will be held at this time. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to The Veterans of
Foreign Wars of the U.S. (VFW), Easter Seals, St. Jude
Children's Hospital, or Habitat for Humanity.
SMITH, Helen
