Ruth Pfeiffer Smith

SMITH, Ruth Pfeiffer “Pfeife”, age 87, of Centerville, passed away Wednesday, April 14, 2004. She was a 1938 graduate of Wells College, Aurora, NY, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Pfeife received her masters degree in International Affairs in 1939 from Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Somerville, MA. She was a teacher at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn from which she had graduated in 1936. Pfeife was a longtime active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oakwood where she was the first woman senior warden. She was one of the founders of the Dayton Council on World Affairs, the Miami Valley School in Washington Twp. and Planned Parenthood. Pfeife was a past president of the Centerville-Washington Twp. School Board, the Dayton Art Institute and the Junior League of Dayton. She was a trustee of the University of Dayton, Wells College and the United Theological Seminary. Pfeife was head of the League of Women Voters. She was selected as one of the Top Ten Women of Dayton in the first class. Preceded in death by her parents, Dr. William and May Smith; her grandson, Robert E. Smith; and her sister, Helen Jackson. Survived by her husband of 64 years, Frederick; 5 sons, Frederick C. Smith III and his wife, Gay of Sidney, OH, Geoffrey W. Smith of Boston MA, Roger H. Smith and his wife, Elizabeth of Vienna, VA, William P. Smith and his wife, Kiki of Lake Forest, IL and Bartlett K. Smith and his wife, Sue Onslow of Petersfield, England; 14 grandchildren; and 5 great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM, Saturday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 33 W. Dixon, Oakwood, with Rev. John F. Koepke III officiating. The family will receive friends in the parish hall immediately following the memorial service. In memory of Pfeife, memorial contributions may be made to Miami Valley Hospital-Women’s Health Center, One Wyoming St., Dayton, OH 45409, Sinclair Community College School of Nursing, 444 W. Third St., Dayton, OH 45402, The Dayton Foundation, 2100 Kettering Tower, Dayton, OH 45423 The Planned Parenthood of the Greater Miami Valley, 224 N. Wilkinson St., Dayton, OH 45402 or St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Book of Remembrance, 33 W. Dixon Ave. Oakwood, OH 45419. The family is in the care of Routsong Funeral Home.

Funeral Home:
Oakwood Routsong Funeral Home
6 Oakwood Ave.
Oakwood, OH
US 45409