Submitted by: Dan Rich

Hazel F. W. Smith

Jan. 8, 1915 - May 23, 1998

South Bend Tribune 5/27/1998

Hazel F.W. Smith, 83, passed away after a brief illness at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 23, at the home of her daughter in Buchanan, Mich. For the last 18 years she had resided in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. Prior to this she had lived most of her life in South Bend, Ind.

Hazel was born on Jan. 8, 1915, in Ora, Ind., to McKinley and Mary A. (Smith) Werner, both of whom preceded her in death. She was also preceded in death by her husband, Robert R. Smith, to whom she was married 52 years. Mrs. Smith is survived by her daughter, Sheryl S. Wagner of Buchanan; two granddaughters, Richard and Deborah (Wagner) Hudak of South Bend and Wendy Wagner of Milwaukee, Wis.; two great-grandchildren, Lauren and Andrea Hudak; a brother and sister-in-law, George and Helen Werner of South Bend; and by a nephew, Col. Thomas and Janice Werner of Carlisle, Pa. She also leaves behind a close friend, Paul Ison of Fort Myers Beach, and other good friends in Fort Myers Beach and South Bend.

She was a past president of the St. Joseph County Hearing and Speech Auxiliary, Order of Eastern Star Chapter 569 and White Shrine of Jerusalem, both of South Bend. In Fort Myers Beach, she contributed much of her time to activities at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post.

Services will be at 11 a.m. today in the Palmer Funeral Home, 2528 Mishawaka Avenue, South Bend. Rev. Don Francis will officiate. Burial will follow at St. Joseph Valley Memorial Park, Granger, Ind. Friends called from 4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday in the Palmer Funeral Home. Contributions in memory of Mrs. Smith may be made to Hospice at Home, 2626 W. John Beers Road, P.O. Box 297, Stevensville, MI 49127; or to the Hearing & Speech Auxiliary Memorial Fund, 711 E. Colfax Avenue, South Bend, IN 46617.