Leslie Ruth Snodgrass Smith

SNODGRASS, 73, of Maitland, FL, passed away on Sept. 7, 2011. She was the daughter of a dad from the hollers of WV, and a mother from rural AL, born in 1938, near the height of the depression. She went to grade school in Maitland and Winter Park, and then Winter Park junior high school and Winter Park high school. She was the salutatorian of her senior class. Soon after enrolling at FSU, she started her life as an educator, and that was a long and varied career: Jesup, GA - 7th grade. Most of the boys were bigger, much bigger, than she was. It was trial by fire, including a nose-to-nose standoff with a 16-year-old 7th grader a foot taller than she was. Fortunately, he cried just before she did and he became one of the best students in her class. In 1964, Ruth was hired to find and teach underprivileged kids, at a new program called Head Start. Ruth charged forth in an old Opel station wagon into very rural Alachua County, FL, with 3-year-old daughter Cathy in tow as her assistant (bait). She managed in fact to sign up a number of kids, and likely changed some lives. Next with husband Kelly enrolled in UF law school, Ruth taught at elementary schools in Gainesville, putting him through law school, and that was followed by teaching stints in the Orlando area at Audubon Park with the principal Mr. Zimmerman, Washington Shores, and then for many years at Park Maitland School, teaching 2nd grade reading. Teaching was her true calling, and that calling continued throughout her life. Ruth the traveler - She visited 100 countries. She trekked in Nepal and Patagonia, marauded through the shops of Katmandu and Lhasa, traveled across Africa numerous times, loving the animals and the people. Even before the foreign travel there was North America, including a 25,000 mile trip in the Opel all across America to the west coast and as far north as Edmonton and south to Mexico City. The traveling probably begat Ruth as a photographer, and that turned into far more than scenics when grandkids came along. She was truly a fine photographer. And maybe that all led to Ruth the skier. She loved the skiing scene and the family skiing get-togethers that it led to. Skiing itself, hmmm, well not so much. Ruth the family matriarch - Maybe she learned the job in part from watching the female elephants in Africa. In any event, that all came together and it was clear her true highest and best use was mother and grandmother. For her there could not have been a higher calling. She was always there for them. She even mothered our mothers when they got old. She worked hard at it, and even did the best she could to keep her husband functioning also. It was family first and foremost - the elephants would be proud. Ruth is survived by her husband Kelly of Maitland; sisters Jo Ann Snodgrass Bentti of Maitland and Elma Jean Snodgrass Perry of Jacksonville; daughter Cathy Small of Longwood (husband Pete); son Kevin of Maitland (wife Carla); four grandchildren

(Michael and Julie Small, and Nick and Casey Smith); nephew Eric Bentti of Melbourne; niece Brittany Brown of Fern Park (and family); and many loving family and friends. Visitation with the family will be held on Friday, Sept. 9, 2011, from 6 to 8 p.m., and a memorial service will be held on Monday, Sept. 12, 2011, at 4 p.m., both at Asbury United Methodist Church, 220 W. Horatio Ave., Maitland, FL. In lieu of flowers, donations to Hospice of the Comforter, 480 W. Central Pkwy, Altamonte Springs, FL, 32714, would be appreciated.