She was born in Shawnee, Kansas, on December 14, 1920, the youngest daughter of Camiel and Elodie (Van Hoet) DeJaegher. She married Ernest S. Smith October 28, 1944 at St. Joseph's Church in Shawnee, KS. Mary & Ernest owned and operated a family farm in rural Olathe. She was a member of St. Paul's Catholic Church and the Belgian American Club.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Ernest; parents; five sisters; and one brother; daughter, Mary Jane; and granddaughter, Mackenzie. She is survived by five sons: Jim (Susie) Smith, of Parsons, KS; Jerry (Brenda) Smith, of Paola; Frank Smith, of Olathe; Bill (Evelyn) Smith, of Olathe; and Tom (Michele) Smith, of Desoto; three daughters: Judy (Rod) Coday, of Shawnee; Rose Smith, of Olathe; and Susie (Dave) Richardson, of Baldwin City; twenty-three grandchildren and twenty-five great grandchildren.
Services will be 10 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 8, St. Paul's Catholic Church, with burial to follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Olathe. Visitation will be Tuesday, 6-7:30 p.m., at McGilley & Frye Funeral Home, Olathe, with the rosary said at 7:30 p.m. The family suggests memorial donations to Villa St. Francis, 16600 W. 126th Street, Olathe, KS 66061, or St. Paul's Church, Olathe.
MARY'S LIFE - THE STORY OF OUR MOTHER
Mary Cecilia DeJaegher Smith was born December 14, 1920, in Shawnee Kansas, the youngest of six daughters and one son born to Belgian immigrants Elodie (Van Hoet) and Camiel DeJaegher. Mary’s parents were “truck farmers”, and made their living gardening and selling produce at local markets. They owned twenty acres of land along what is now 55th street, between Nieman and Quivira in Shawnee.
Mary attended St Joseph Catholic School and high school. She was one of the first cheerleaders at St Joseph high school. She was a member of St Paul’s Church, Olathe and the Belgian American Club. Mary possessed a strong catholic faith, attended mass on Sunday and holy days, said the rosary regularly and always said her daily prayers each morning.
She married Ernest S. Smith at St Joseph’s Church on October 28, 1944. Nine children were born to Ernest and Mary: Jim, Judy, Jerry, Rose, Frank, Bill, Tom, Susie, and daughter Mary Jane who died at age two. As children, our religious formation and education was very important to her and she made sure we went to mass, received the sacraments and attended weekly catechism classes.
Ernest grew up with a farming background as well and wanted to own his own farm land. In 1951 Ernest and Mary purchased the farmstead with 160 acres from his mother’s family and moved into the big white farmhouse in rural Olathe. Most of us only remember living in that house as kids.
While daddy guided through his quiet, calm and steady ways, mom was the heart and spirit of the home. She loved to sing and had a good voice. She sang all the old songs from the 40’s and 50’s as well as earlier songs from her childhood. It was fun to hear her sing while she was cooking the meals or cleaning up the kitchen. She had a strong voice that carried and sometimes embarrassed us in the grocery store or other public places when she often spoke loudly, commenting on something personal, another person or something she noticed. We always joked that her voice could be heard for as much as a mile depending on which way the wind was blowing. We could be playing up in the lot, pasture or somewhere half a mile away and she would stand out on the porch and holler for us and we could hear her. Of course, we could never yell back loud enough for her to hear us, so one of us had to run down to the house to tell her what we were doing.
While Dad was busy with the farming, growing crops and taking care of the animals, mom ruled the house and was the one who told us on a daily basis what we could and could not do. So many kids could be a real trial on her nerves at times when we didn’t behave. She would yell at us to settle down and if we didn’t respond the way she thought we should, she wasn’t above coming after us wielding a rolling pin or hairbrush – depending on what was the handiest to grab. She never hit us with it, but at times, if she used a hairbrush and she thought the one she was after was getting away too fast she would throw it at us. She would toss her shoes at us as well, and then would have to search for them later, not remembering where they had landed. We didn’t realize until we were older how hard mom really worked. As we look back now, we are amazed at everything she did. She took care of the kids, kept house, cooked all the meals, did all the laundry, and kept the house clean as well as taking care of the chickens and a large garden.
She loved to garden and in the spring and summer would always rather be outside working rather than doing housework. She always planted a huge garden each spring. She planted fruit and nut trees, and grew all kinds of berries and vegetables. Late spring and summer was spent canning and freezing the fruits and vegetables. She liked to experiment with growing different vegetables. We helped with planting and hoeing, but she did a much of the work and was the brains behind the operation. In later years, after most of the kids were grown, she enjoyed taking her garden crops to sell at local markets. Younger kids and grandkids would often go along to help.
Besides, the large garden to take care of, she also raised several hundred chickens each spring and summer. The baby chicks were ordered and delivered through the mail in the spring. Every weekday in the summer, we helped with killing and cleaning a dozen or more young fryers. A couple chickens were cooked for the noon meal and the rest were packaged for the freezer. Some of the hens were kept so that we would have eggs to eat as well as plenty left over to sell to others. She also at times raised geese, ducks, and guineas – those she hatched from eggs; and for awhile she even raised rabbits.
She was a good cook, nothing fancy just simple good tasting food. She made the best fried chicken in her iron skillet. Her spaghetti and meatballs has become a legend with the grandchildren. All the grandchildren loved it and some have learned how to make it and they all call it “grandma’s spaghetti”. She seemed to think a good meal would cure any ailment. If you said you weren’t feeling well, she would usually respond with “You haven’t been eating right, eat a good meal, then you’ll feel better”. She only knew how to cook large quantities – she could fix a meal for 100 people and did so for many special occasions. If any visitors came to the house, she always got out whatever food she had available and would fix a meal. As we became teen-agers, she always encouraged our friends to stay for dinner and they always loved the big meals she served. She usually didn’t use a recipe, it was all just a little of this and that. She did have a great brownie recipe she used from St Paul’s ladies circle cookbook, but her measuring utensils for the recipe were a coffee cup and dinner teaspoons and tablespoons. Some of us tried to duplicate the recipe, but because of her measuring techniques, we never could get the recipe quite right.
As adults, we realized what a great life we had as kids growing up and it was all because of mom and dad and the life they had chosen to live. A family farm is more than running a business or a job that you work at during the day. It is a way of life. Everyone in the family is involved and takes part - each has their job to do. We had such great experiences, learning about the animals, crops, gardening and life on the farm. We all had our chores to do, but we had time for fun as well. We did not have many close neighbors so our brothers and sisters were our friends and playmates. In the summer we spent endless hours outside playing all sorts of games. We modified some of the smaller buildings dad had collected in the lot and used them for our playhouses. All this fostered a closeness that has continued in our adult lives.
Both mom and dad were very family oriented. Family was everything to them and I think that was probably one of the most important lessons they taught us. The family always stuck together and most everything we did socially was centered around family. Mom was very proud of her Belgian heritage and she was equally proud of dad’s family history as well. She told us endless stories about parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives on both sides of the family. She was very proud of the home and farm they owned, which had been in dad’s family since the 1880’s; and was very interested in dad’s long family history in the area.
We truly believe that mom would say she lived a good life. We’ll remember her as she always was smiling and happy, laughing, singing and telling stories of the family and friends that were part of her life. She will be missed, but we all have lots of stories and memories to pass on to the generations to come.
COMPARTA UN OBITUARIO
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