Smith, R. Harp 1902-1993

SMITH, MILLER, WILCOXSON, HARP, STEWART

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 9/30/2007 at 21:07:43

R. Harp Smith

R. Harp Smith, 91, a resident of Heritage Manor for 11 Months and a former Resident of 517 N. 8th Ave. E., died Tuesday morning, Nov. 30, at the manor of cancer.

Funeral services for Mr. Smith, a former longtime grocer in Newton, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the First Christian Church.

The Rev. Raymond Barnett, pastor of the church, will conduct services. Burial will be in Newton Union Cemetery.

Masonic rites will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Reese Chapel.

Friends may call at Reese Funeral Home after noon Thursday and visitation with the family will be held following Masonic rites.

Memorials to the organization of the donor's choice will be accepted.

Survivors are a son and daughter-in-law, Richard S. and Norma of Newton; two daughters and sons-in-law, Lois and Richard Miller and Judy and Winfred Wilcoxson, all of Camorillo, Calif.; eight grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents and wife, Eva, in 1982.

Mr. Smith was a member of the First Christian Church for which he had served in all capacities throughout the years, was a 50-plus year member of Newton Masonic Lodge 59 AF and AM, was a member of York Rite Bodies for more than 50 years, was a member of the Newton Rotary Club, had served on the Newton City Council and was a member of the Jasper County Genealogical Society and Jasper County Historical Society.

Mr. Smith taught school in Missouri Valley until joining his family in the grocery business in Newton in 1926. He was a grocer until 1952 at which time he worked for the Automatic Washer Co., in Newton and for Morgan Builders in Newton for a number of years. Later he was a bookkeeper for Rempp Motor Parts in Newton, retiring in 1971.

The son of Elva C. and Maggie Harp Smith, he was born Sept. 20, 1902 in Newton, was graduated from Newton Community High School and received a degree in engineering from Iowa State University in Ames in 1924.

He was married to Eva Stewart July 10, 1925 in Newton. ~ The Newton (IA) Daily News, November 1993