Remembering Iva Marie Smith

(1903-1994)

 

Iva Marie Smith was a modern woman in many ways. A woman of intelligence, of conviction and of character, Iva earned a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Lawrence University in June of 1925. Remaining unmarried, she taught history in Chaumont for five years; she also taught for several years in Alexandria Bay. Iva returned to aid her father on the farm as his health began to fail. “Miss Smith”, as she was known to her scholars, frequently received visits—even in her later years—from grateful students whose lives she had touched.

 

A lover of animals and nature, Iva Smith was most at home outdoors and, especially, when tending to livestock in the barn. A woman of open mind and heart, she also befriended artists, especially Mrs. Margaret Arnold and Carmen and Helena D'Avino.

 

A devout Christian in spirit, Iva Smith directed a Sunday school in the one-room school house .7 miles south of this farm during the 1950's.

 

Local people recall Iva's compassion for those children in the community most in need of food or clothing or a kind word. The grocer, Mr. Dietrich, commented that the groceries that Iva purchased were not all for herself.

 

Those who knew Iva pay tribute to her firm sense of conviction, her spirit of modesty and self-abnegation and her great and tender heart.