After a long and productive life, Marcella Cecilia Smith, 96, passed away on June 27, 2014 at Rosewood Health Center in Raleigh. Marcella was born in Buffalo, New York on April 21, 1918. She was the daughter of August Charles Boehm and Mary Josephine (Weber) Boehm. She was a graduate of Buffalo East High School, Class of 1936.
Marcella/Mom/Grandmother as she was variously known to her large family and many friends met her future husband as a young woman while working as a waitress in a restaurant in downtown Buffalo. Charles William Smith, a recent chemical engineering graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was a visiting instructor working with Bethlehem Steel mill in Lackawanna, NY. He came in for dinner on several nights with a group of young men and Marcella waited on them. The rest is history. Charles and Marcella began seeing each other, and before long they were married in Sacred Heart Church in Buffalo on September 24, 1940. Marcella was 22 years old. Charles would turn 25 just 4 days after the wedding.
Marcella and Charles were blessed with 8 children together. Raising their large family and Charles’ nearly 48 years of work for Esso Standard Oil (later Exxon Corporation) were the focus of much of their lives. Charles’ job took the growing family at various times to Buffalo(New York), Sarnia(Ontario), Baton Rouge(Louisiana), Corpus Christi(Texas), Roselle(New Jersey), Plainfield(New Jersey), The Hague(Netherlands) and finally back to Plainfield.
Marcella and Charles settled in Plainfield where they lived for almost 40 years together – for most of 1955 through 1995 at 1216 Watchung Avenue. Their children attended Plainfield public and Catholic schools and graduated from Plainfield High School and Holy Trinity High School(Westfield). Perhaps one of Marcella’s proudest accomplishments was the fact that all of her 8 children graduated from college. Several went on to earn graduate degrees.
Marcella attended nursing school in Buffalo after high school. She devoted herself to her husband and children, forgoing any further higher education for herself. When asked recently what she was proudest about in her upbringing of 8 children, Marcella replied simply: “The results.”
Marcella’s life long partner and love, Charles, passed away in October, 1995 at the age of 80 years. She was predeceased by her parents, by her older sister, Agnes, and by her younger brother, Clayton, all of Buffalo, New York. Marcella is survived by her 8 children. They are William of Raleigh(North Carolina), Rosemary of Sandy Springs(Georgia), Robert of Keswick(Virginia), Jerry of Raleigh(North Carolina), Marie of Alexandria(Virginia), Charlotte of Medfield(Massachusetts), Christine of Seattle(Washington), and Marguerite of Hanover Park(Illinois).
Marcella is survived by 18 grandchildren. The grandchildren are Susanna, Matthew, Elizabeth and Catherine – children of William and Mary Alice(Gallagher) Smith; Steven, Joanne and David – children of Robert and Joan(Krieg) Smith; Alexandra, Nicholas and Zachary – children of Jerry and Patricia(Nadeau) Smith; Edward and Douglas – sons of Daniel and Marie(Smith) Ernst; Will, Laura, Lisa and Julia – children of James and Charlotte(Smith) Redden; and Samantha and Sean - children of Robert and Christine(Smith) Hill. Marcella is also survived by 6 great grandchildren. They are Ella and Talia Smith, Jackson and Hannah Wallace, and twins Kate and Grace Nation.
Marcella grew up in a poor family. After an early, brief stint as a cowboy in the waning days of the Old West cattle drives around 1890, her father returned to Buffalo and worked in a meat-packing plant for many years. When asked recently how often she went to the movies in the 1920’s and 1930’s when she was growing up she replied: “We couldn’t afford to go to the movies.” One very rare treat that Marcella talked about in her last days was the time that her older sister Agnes – who was around 20 at the time – took Marcella at age 10 or 11 to a vaudeville show at Buffalo’s Shea Theater, where one of the performers that day was Charlie Chaplin.
Marcella took from her upbringing and circumstances a life-long inclination to save for the future. The man she fell in love with and married, Charles William, her husband of 55 years, shared the same philosophy. Together through the years of diligent saving, they sent all 8 of their children to mostly expensive private colleges without much, if any, financial aid assistance.
Marcella was a dedicated, extremely hard working and loving mother. She fostered a reverence for learning, reading, athletics, and education largely through her patient, tireless, and devoted example. She was a stickler for never giving up and for doing things the right way. She passed those traits on in many ways. Two small examples were always insisting on correct grammar and requiring her children to send thank you notes for gifts received from others.
After her children had left home, Marcella spent countless hours as a volunteer at Muhlenberg Hospital in Plainfield. She was especially proud of her service there. She also took great pleasure in visiting her children and grandchildren in the various places they lived around the USA and, for a time, in one case, Belgium.
Marcella spent most of the final 13 years of her life at the Heritage in Raleigh. During those years she enjoyed playing cards, eating meals, and socializing with her many friends. Marcella was incredibly sharp mentally. Even into her last months she particularly enjoyed watching the TV quiz show Jeopardy and matching wits with the contestants on TV. Sadly her physical body failed her at a time when her mental capabilities were nearly as strong as ever.
The family would like to express our sincere gratitude to the many friends and caregivers who showed so much love and affection for Marcella. These include all of her Heritage friends and all the employees at Heritage. Our special thanks go to Minerva Lantigua at Heritage for her kindness over the years to Marcella. We also want to recognize and extend deep gratitude to the Heritage’s loving nurses and caregivers, Vanessa Caldwell and Delores Nash, and to others at Heritage who have gone the extra mile to make Marcella’s days as peaceful as possible. These include Jack Fried, Emily (Long) Melvin, Pamela Jordan, Leola McKinley, Heidi Gerhard, Bobby Jo Knight and Christina Allen.
We also would like to recognize and thank Dr. Velukumar Nanjagowder and the folks at Doctors Making Housecalls for their patience and genuine love for Marcella, Dr. Nitin Gupta, her incredibly caring retinal doctor, and Dr. Grace Rose, her wonderful internist. And last, but certainly not least, we want to extend our deep gratitude to the exceptional nurses and professionals at Hospice of Wake County who made Marcella’s final months as painless as possible, both for Marcella and for her family. These include Charlotte Hesterberg, Angela Stewart and Jan Kimball. Thank you to all from the depths of our hearts.
In the final weeks of her life, Marcella was cared for tenderly and joyously by the incredible staff at Rosewood Health Center at The Cypress Club. Thank you to Shane Gabis, Dottie Wallin, Katharine Ward, Lisa Ginsburg, Dr. Steven Liebowitz and all the many other wonderful professionals who cared for Marcella during her days at the Rosewood.
Funeral services will be held at St. Raphael’s Catholic Church at 11:00 am Thursday July 3, in Raleigh on Falls of the Neuse Road. A graveside service will be held at Holy Redeemer Cemetery at 11:00 am on Saturday July 5, in South Plainfield, New Jersey so that Marcella can be laid to final rest next to her husband, Charles.
Condolences may be expressed to the family through www.BrownWynne.com. Arrangements through Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Millbrook Rd., Raleigh.
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