Margaret Smead

She was born on October 5, 1927 in Stetson, ME on the family farm where her mother was born in 1904.

At the age of one, her family moved to Corinna, ME, where she graduated from 8th grade. In the fall of 1942, she attended South Lancaster Academy, a Seventh-day Adventist boarding school in South Lancaster, MA, for two and a half years.

In 1947, her family moved to West Swanzey, NH where she lived the rest of her life. At some church youth meetings, she met Claude Smead from Putney, VT. They were married in April of 1949 and celebrated 56 years of marriage until Claude’s death in 2005.

Margaret was a faithful church member of the Keene Seventh-day Adventist Church. She served in many church offices through the years including Sabbath School Superintendent, Sabbath School Secretary, and Head Deaconess as well as teaching children’s Sabbath School classes. In 1959 the church opened an elementary school and Margaret was the secretary for six years. She was also secretary to the New Hampshire and Southern Vermont Dorcas Health & Welfare Federation (now called Community Services) and was a member of the prayer warriors’ group. In 1957 Margaret was elected Communication Secretary of the Keene SDA Church, a position she held until 2008 when she asked to be retired. Over the years she wrote many news articles for the Keene Sentinel and the Keene Shopper News and has numerous scrapbooks filled with those stories. Margaret’s faith in God was always strong and she would always say “God will take care of me”.

Margaret was a devoted daughter and caregiver for three years to her mother, after her father died in 1999, and then a devoted caregiver to Claude for another three years. She was also a loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother. She always looked forward to family gatherings to create lasting memories. She was a good friend to others and always willing to help those in need. Many families ate home cooked meals in her home or she delivered food to family and friends in time of sickness or just because she loved them. She was an avid fisherman, first with her dad in Maine and then with Claude. She loved and enjoyed animals and enjoyed feeding and watching many kinds of birds, especially the cardinals at her bird feeders outside her dining room window. From a young girl she was a lifetime Red Sox and Celtics fan. In 2008, she was interviewed and appeared in the movie, Swanzey Rural Character.

Margaret and Claude were true life partners and were always seen together. When they met, Claude was a part time flight instructor in Keene, and she enjoyed flying with him. Later Claude had a license to take up to six paying passengers on their 30-foot boat docked a Mike’s Marina in Portsmouth, NH. They spent many Sunday’s deep sea fishing around the Isles of Sholes and Margaret always managed to catch fish that were bigger than Claude’s. They worked together in the family business, Smead Basket Factory, for 52 years, making many kinds of baskets including picnic baskets, laundry baskets, and their specialty, pack baskets that they sold to L. L. Bean by the thousands and to many gift shops around New England.

Margaret is survived by her daughter: Lorna Zabaleta and her husband Daniel of Swanzey, NH; grandson: David Zabaleta of Osterville, MA; granddaughter: Lynn Zabaleta of Silver Spring, MD; two great grandchildren: Kyle and Robin Zabaleta of Centerville, MA; sister: Philla-Mae Morris of Inverness, FL; as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins in Maine, Vermont, Ohio and California.

Margaret was predeceased by her parents, Martin and Lillian (Haskell) Curtis of West Swanzey and her husband Claude Smead of West Swanzey.

Family and friends are invited to calling hours at Fletcher Funeral Home, 33 Marlboro Street from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Sunday, September 25. A funeral service will be held on Monday, September 26 at 10:00 am at the Keene Seventh-day Adventist Church, 42 Forbush Lane, Swanzey, NH. Burial will follow at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, Bellows Falls Road, Putney, VT.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Keene SDA Church, P.O. Box 938, Keene, NH 03441.