Everett E. SMITH

SMITH, KELLY, RIETZ, KLEIN

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/6/2010 at 14:56:41

February 27, 1909 -- August 25, 2010

Everett E. Smith, 101, a resident of The Highlands at Wyomissing, died quietly on Aug. 25, at his home, of injuries sustained in a fall. He was the husband of Gladys Kelly Smith, with whom he had shared nearly 10 years of marriage. He was predeceased by his first wife, Ann Rietz Smith, in 1988, and is survived by his stepdaughter, Gwen Kelly Klein (James), as well as several nieces and nephews. He was a member of Holy Cross United Methodist Church, Reading.

Everett was born in Rolfe, Iowa, the last of six children, in 1909. With help from some of his older brothers and sisters, he was able to attend the University of Iowa and graduated in 1929. After marrying his high school sweetheart, Ann Rietz, he served in the Illinois National Guard and made it through the Great Depression working for a meat packing company in Chicago. Later, he took a position with the Western Electric Company and AT&T in Chicago and New York. He came to the Reading area in 1951 to open the Laureldale plant in Muhlenberg Township, which later became one of the largest employers in Berks County. His career, beginning with Western Electric, spanned 44 years with the same company.

Everett and his wife, Ann, loved to travel and shared trips to many foreign countries as well as points of interest in the U.S. After Ann's death, Everett continued his travels and gave several presentations at The Highlands, complete with photos of his trips. Everett was always active in the Berks County community, beginning with his charter position on the Economic Opportunity Council Board in 1963. He also was a member of the Urban Coalition, the Reading Rotary Club and Telephone Pioneers of America, and was on the Albright College Convocation Committee for several years. In 1963 and 1964, Everett was the General Campaign Chairman of the Berks County United Fund (now United Way) and at that time also served on the board of directors and planning committees. He was President of the YMCA of Reading and Berks County during construction of their Olympic indoor pool.

He served on boards of both the YMCA and the South Mountain YMCA and remained until 1999 a Trustee of the YMCA of Berks County. He was also president of Family Services and aided that organization's merger with the Family Guidance Center in 1967. Always active in human rights issues, Everett was a commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Human Relations Commission. He was the first elected chairman of the Inter-Religious Committee on Race from 1963-1967, and was instrumental in the establishment of the Reading-Berks Human Relations Council in 1967. Appointed to the Pennsylvania State Human Relations Commission by Governor William W. Scranton in 1966, he was made Chairman of the Commission by Governor Raymond P. Shafer in 1970. Everett continued to serve on the commission until 1981.

Everett is most recently remembered for marrying his second sweetheart, Gladys, when they were both 91. They met at The Highlands, where they bowled and sang in the chorus together. Both widowed, they married after a year's courtship. Their engagement, wedding and each of their 100th birthdays were noted by the Reading Eagle.

Bean Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. A memorial and celebration of Everett's long and industrious life is scheduled for September 1 at 11 a.m. at The Highlands, 2000 Cambridge Avenue, Wyomissing, to which all of Everett's friends are invited. Lunch will follow. Burial will be at the convenience of the family in Graceland Cemetery, Rowan, Iowa. In lieu of flowers, Everett wished that memorial contributions would be made to The Highlands Endowment Fund, 2000 Cambridge Avenue, Wyomissing PA 19610.

Reading Eagle - Reading, Pennsylvania
August 26, 2010

*****************************************

A Life Spent Looking Out for Others by Bruce R. Posten, Reading Eagle

Everett E. Smith was born a Methodist in white-bread Iowa, America's flat and fertile heartland.

But he's been to the longevity mountaintop, experienced a lot for a 101-year-old. He completed a successful 44-year career in 1973 as controller and labor relations bargaining agent at Reading Works, Western Electric Co.

Smith has been a historical part of the mechanical and microchip ages.

Mostly, though, he should be proud of a lifetime committed to improving black-white race relations in Berks County and throughout Pennsylvania.

After serving in community volunteer roles in the racially tense 1960s, Smith rose to become chairman of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission from 1970-74.

He continued to serve as a commission member until 1981 when, for apparent political reasons, he was not reappointed.

Newspaper headlines screamed: "Bias fighter out: Snub of Smith by Harrisburg insult, injustice."

Seen as an early champion of civil rights, Smith took years to write a self-published book, "An Autobiography of Everett E. Smith: A Quiet Life," which he completed a little more than a year ago with the help of stepdaughter Gwen Kelly Klein.

In it, he wrote: "I admit to my lack of knowledge of the problems of the blacks, for all of my life up until this time (early 1960s) I had been in the company of white persons."

As an Iowa boy, he writes in his book of seeing his first black person, an old woman smoking a corncob pipe at a Kansas City train station, where Smith and his mother were waiting to change trains to visit his mother's sister in Windsor, Mo.

Smith lives at the Highlands at Wyomissing with his second wife, Gladys, (both 91 when they married).

What does he say today about his role in striving to improve race relations?

"I lived through the Depression," he said. "I've looked out for people struggling at the bottom. I guess I have a natural feeling to help."

In 1963, Smith was one of the original members of the Inter-Religious Committee on Race in Reading, inspired by the hopes of a young minister, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., to end discrimination against blacks in housing, education and jobs.

From that beginning, Smith went on to serve on what became the Reading-Berks Human Relations Council and the Berks Economic Opportunity Council.

In 1966, Gov. William W. Scranton named him to the state commission.

These days, Smith described his lifelong commitment to help others this way, "I probably opened my mouth too much when I shouldn't have."

What might others say to that?

No, he didn't.

Reading Eagle, Reading, Pennsylvania
March 27, 2010

http://readingeagle.com/Article.aspx?id=207658

************************************
Couple dance toward 100 in Wyomissing
Everett Smith will celebrate milestone birthday on Friday; his wife, Gladys, on April 24

By Ron Devlin - Reading Eagle

Marriage at 100

Everett and Gladys Smith on the dance floor in the Terrace Room of The Highlands at Wyomissing. Everett will celebrate his 100th birthday on Friday; Gladys will be 100 on April 24.

The gentle rumba beat of "Spanish Eyes" evokes an aura of romance as it envelops the dining room at The Highlands at Wyomissing.

On the dance floor, Everett and Gladys Smith glide in unison to their favorite song.

Lost in pianist Ray Allen's music, they drift back to the Big Band era of the 1930s. It's as if they were dancing to The Dorsey Brothers or Glenn Miller.

For a few precious moments, they're young again.

"We both feel that dancing has a lot to do with maintaining our health and happiness," said Everett, a retired Western Electric human-relations executive.

Dancing has proven a youthful elixir for the Smiths, who both are approaching 100 years of age.

Everett will be 100 on Friday, and Gladys turns 100 on April 24.

As widow and widower, they met at a dance in The Highlands and were married Sept. 30, 2000, when they both were 91.

Gladys, who had been married 42 years to her first husband, admitted she liked being single again. But with Everett, who had been married 47 years, she's found peace and contentment.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Gladys said. "Having somebody around to talk to is very nice, and the companionship is reassuring."

Dancing remains a constant in the Smiths' lives, but Gladys concedes her footwork isn't what it used to be.

"I just hold on and wiggle," she said, jokingly.

Everett is fond of requesting special numbers, such as "Spanish Eyes" and "New York, New York."

"I like music that's not too fast, not too slow, just right," he said. "We have a certain rhythm. It comes naturally."

When Ray Allen plays, once a month, the Smiths are regulars on the dance floor.

On this occasion, Everett wears a red dinner jacket, accented with a colorful jazz bow. Gladys dons a lavender jacket over black slacks, and wears a heart-shaped diamond necklace.

The dining room has a supper club atmosphere.

Everett and Gladys, clinging to one another, move with the music.

He holds her in his arms, and looks into her blue, if not Spanish, eyes.

Reading Eagle - Reading, Pennsylvania
February 25, 2009
http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=127022