Biography

Mabel Ellen Mann was born on October 19th, 1891, to Elizabeth Wilkie Mann and Henry Fred Mann, and was the first of six children. Mann graduated from Marshalltown High School in 1909 and attended the Iowa State Teachers College, after which she taught school for four years. On February 25th, 1914, Mann married John Oscar Smith and left teaching to become a farm homemaker. She would calculate the farm’s business and tax expenses, while also making time to participate in 4-H, volunteering for the Ivester Church of the Brethren, and for making corn husk dolls and card designs. In 1928, Mann Smith was the first woman to be named Master Farm Homemaker of Iowa. Mann Smith had two daughters: Mary Elizabeth and Ruth Roberta. Mabel Ellen Mann Smith died January 20th, 1984, in Conrad, Iowa.

Mary Elizabeth Smith was born on March 27th, 1916, to Mabel Ellen Mann Smith and John Oscar Smith. After graduating from Whitten High School at age 16, Smith attended Marshalltown Business College and the Minnesota School of Business, later becoming a secretary and bookkeeper. Smith married Richard S. DeWitt on December 26th, 1942, during WWII. DeWitt worked as a secretary for the War Board, and her husband was enlisted in the Air Force as a pilot. Afterwards, DeWitt became a homemaker and took up leadership positions in multiple clubs, such as Church Women United, the Federation of Iowa Women’s Club, and the PEO. DeWitt had three children: Donald Seymour, Steven Richard, and Jane Ellen. Mary Elizabeth Smith DeWitt died on January 3rd, 2019, in Indianola, Iowa.

Ruth Roberta Smith was born on January 10th, 1921, to Mabel Ellen Mann Smith and John Oscar Smith, the second of two children. Smith graduated from Whitten High School and earned an R.N. degree at the Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in Marshalltown, Iowa. During WWII, Smith enlisted as an army nurse under General George Patton and was stationed all over Western Europe. Notably, Smith treated soldiers that participated in D-Day. After the war, Smith married Jay Lewis Miller on May 10th, 1947, and had three children: Ann Louise (1949), Kathy Sue (1951), and Beth Elaine (1958). Miller continued her nursing career at Grundy County Memorial Hospital, while volunteering with the Ivester Church of the Brethren, Conrad American Legion Auxiliary, the Grundy and Marshall County hospice, and 4-H. Ruth Roberta Smith Miller died on December 17th, 2011, in Marshalltown, Iowa.

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