Phebe M. Smith, 91

The Star has received word of the death of Phebe M. Smith, an East Hampton native who was a descendent of the Dominy family of furniture and clock-makers. Mrs. Smith died on Sept. 25 at Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie, Wyo., having come down with an infection four days before. She was 91 years old.

Born here on Aug. 22, 1925, she was one of two children of Carl F. Mason and the former Phebe Dominy. She graduated from East Hampton High School and later received laboratory training to become a nurse during World War II, which ended before she received her degree.

In May 1946, in East Hampton, she married Walter R. Smith, after he completed Army service and finished a degree at Purdue University. He worked as a mining engineer, and the couple lived in several cities, among them Ironwood, Mich., Virginia, Minn., Fairless Hills, Pa., Hackensack, N.J., and Ten Sleep, Wyo. They returned briefly to the South Fork, living in Amagansett between 1952 and 1955.

Over the years, Mrs. Smith found plenty to do as a homemaker raising their  seven children. She enjoyed reading, sewing, and cross-stitch, and had a keen interest in her family genealogy. Through her children, she became involved in religious education and the Cub Scouts, and was an auxiliary volunteer at a hospital in Ten Sleep. She belonged to the Order of the Eastern Star for most of her adult life, wherever they lived.

Mrs. Smith lived most recently at the Spring Wind Assisted Living Center in Laramie. Her husband died in 2011. She is survived by a sister, Caryl Englestead of Panguitch, Utah, and by her children, Kent Smith of Saratoga, Wyo., Jeff Smith of Laramie, Bruce Smith of Seattle, Molly Hollingsworth of Placerville, Calif., Dave Smith of Greenville, N.Y., Sally Mackey of Rock Springs, Wyo., and Walt Smith of Bozeman, Mont. She leaves 27 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Mrs. Smith was cremated. Family members plan to return to East Hampton next summer to scatter her ashes off Three Mile Harbor.