Hans Martin SMITH

SMITH, TEITGEN, BIRD, DAHL, GERDES, RUDISILL

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/30/2009 at 12:56:23

Mason City Globe Gazette, Iowa
November 29, 1995

Services for Hans Smith, 94, of Woden, who died Monday (Nov. 27, 1995) at the Kanawha Community Nursing Home, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at First Presbyterian Church, Woden, with the Rev. Roland Emond Jr. as officiant. Burial will be in Bingham Township Cemetery, south of Woden. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Cataldo Funeral Chapel, Woden.

Hans Martin Smith was born Feb. 18, 1901, to John R. and Bertha (Teitgen) Smith on a farm east of Woden. He attended rural schools. At the age of 17 he began playing baseball on the Woden town team as well as pitching for teams in Mason City and Elmore, Minn., until he was in his 30s. On Oct. 23, 1923, he married Hannah Bird at Forest City. They lived in Crystal Lake and Woden until they moved to the Kanawha Community Nursing Home in April of 1993. Hans was a road maintainer for Hancock County, drove a truck for John Rudisill and was the town marshal and street commissioner for Woden for 45 years, and drove the school bus for eight years. He also worked for Iowa Light and Power Company, taking care of the street lights. Hans took care of people's homes when they were absent and brought mail to shut-ins. He had a special relationship with children and animals, especially horses and dogs. He was a member of the United Methodist Church in Woden until 1991, when he transferred membership to First Presbyterian Church in Woden. He also belonged to the Iowa State Policeman's Association.

He is survived by his wife, Hannah Smith, who resides at the Kanawha Community Nursing Home; a granddaughter, Dianne Dahl and her husband, Stephen, of Linn Creek, Mo.; and two great-grandchildren, Leslie Dahl of Gilmore City and Thomas Dahl of Eagan, Minn. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Normagene Gerdes; his son-in-law, Henry Gerdes; his parents; a sister, Margaret Rudisill; and five brothers, Claus Smith, Ralph "Dick" Smith, Martin Smith, John "Jack" Smith and Pete "Fred" Smith.