On December 2, 2019, Harriet Emma (Hilton) Smith, age 96 of Keene, (formerly of Hanson MA and Hampton NH) passed away peacefully at the Westwood Care and Rehabilitation Center in Keene, following a period of declining health. Harriet had lived at Stafford Hill Assisted Living Community in Plymouth Mass as well as the Westwood Center where she received compassionate, respectful, quality care from the remarkable staff.
Harriet was born August 23, 1923 in Newmarket, NH the daughter of Richard and
Lydia (Pendergast) Hilton. She grew up on her family’s farm, which was
established 1736, as a Dairy Farm and Cider Mill. The farm was also the place where she met and married the love of her life, Elton B. Smith on November 26, 1941.
Harriet was devoted to the care of her family. She was a homemaker in the true sense of the word. Harriet made all the clothes for her family, cooked all meals and baked goods from “scratch”, canned the vegetables that were grown in the backyard, made jams/jellies from wild berries and baked every Saturday including homemade donuts, bread, pies, cookies. The floors and stairway in her home were all covered with rugs that she braided from the material left over from her sewing projects. Harriet also worked many years for Ocean Spray Cranberry Company, again as a cook serving homemade meals to the employees. Harriet had a strong Christian faith and was a member of the First Congregational Church in Hanson, Massachusetts for over 50 years.
Harriet is survived by her daughters, Roxanne Karter and her husband Karl of Keene, NH and
Kathleen Hockenberry and her husband Christopher of Halifax, Mass; grandchildren, Joshua
Hockenberry and his wife Wendy of Hanson, Mass.; Nathaniel Hockenberry and his fiancé Lisa of Ipswhich, Mass.; and Elias Karter and his wife Katie of Keene, NH.; great-grandchildren, Sydney and Ruby Hockenberry , niece Thirza Ann Northrup, nephews Frank Northrup, Winthrop and Richard Hilton and extended family members. She was predeceased by her brother, George Hilton; and sister, Barbara Northrup.
Harriet’s family will remember her in a gathering at the farm in Newmarket on Mother’s
Day.
For those who wish to remember Harriet through a memorial donation, the family
asks that contributions be made to one of these two organizations: Elton B. Smith Scholarship Fund (Winnacunnet Dollars for Scholars Box 1593 North Hampton NH 03862-1593) On memo line write: “note class of 1950” (Elton was the 1950 Hampton Academy and High School class advisor, now Winnacunnet Hight School. Harriet and Elton have remained connected to class members, attending annual reunions yearly since 1950.) or to the Westwood Care and Rehabilitation Center, Activity Fund, 298 Main St. Keene, NH, 03431.
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