Ruth S. Boal

Ruth Boal, 105, of Fort Smith, passed away on Thursday, September 20, 2018 in her home, as she had always wanted. She was born in Dierks on October 27, 1913, the daughter of Mattie Elizabeth Chandler Smith and Emmett Smith. She grew up in Mena and was educated at St. Agnes Roman Catholic School. She and her family moved to Fort Smith in 1932, where she worked for a number of years managing accounting and bookkeeping at the Arcade Department Store on Garrison Avenue. She married Richard Martin Boal on July 27, 1942. They were married for 46 years until his passing in 1988.

Mrs. Boal is survived by her daughters, Dickie Ann Boal-Johnson of New Hope, PA, and Davie Lee Slates and her husband John William Slates, Jr. of Fort Smith; her grandchildren, John William Slates III and his wife Paige, of Dallas, TX, Juliet Christina Johnson of Washington, DC, Leigh Adair Koch and her husband Ben, of Dallas, TX, and Guilbert R. Johnson and his wife Michaela, of New York, NY; her great-grandchildren, John William Slates, IV, Nicholas Benjamin Koch, Thomas Bowden Slates, Colin Douglas Koch, Elizabeth Adair Slates; and her great-grandson to be born to Guilbert and Michaela Johnson in January of 2019; her niece, Cathy Cooper Morris of Little Rock; and her loving and faithful friend and helper, LeeAnn Waldo of London.

A memorial service will be held on Monday, October 1st at 2:00 PM at the First Presbyterian Church in Fort Smith, with a reception to follow at the church. Mrs. Boal will be laid to rest in a private ceremony at Roselawn Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 116 North 12th Street, Fort Smith, Arkansas 72901.