HELEN DORIS CAGNEY SMITH Died quietly and peacefully in her sleep on Thursday, March 10, 2005, in Hayward, Calif. She is survived by two sons, Dwight and Dwayne Smith, a daughter, Joanne Grigsby, 10 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren. Helen was born in Holister, Calif., on July 9, 1910, and was raised on a dairy ranch and farm in San Juan Bautista. She subsequently spent two undergraduate years at Gavilan Community College, graduating from San Jose State University in 1932 in education. She began her early teaching career at Soledad Elementary, completing 10 years before getting married in 1941. Glenn Osmyn Smith married Helen in Reno, Nev., on May 18, 1941. After Pearl Harbor, he volunteered for Navy duty and they spent three years in San Diego, where Dwight and Dwayne were born. At the end of World War II, they moved to Sonora, Calif., where Joanne was born, and Helen resumed her teaching career. The family moved to Hayward in 1954, where they still have their home. Helen was the head of the Economics Department, teaching cooking and sewing at Bret Harte Junior High School. Helen retired from teaching in the early seventies and began to get more actively involved in a women's golf club, the local chapter of the California Retired Teacher's Association, and a dance band. She continued to enjoy golf into the '80s, became Scholarship Chairman for CRTA and was the primary piano player for the band for many years playing for senior citizen dances in Fremont. Throughout her long life, Helen always had a unique love and skill for watercolor painting. She liked flowers and colorful clothes. She especially enjoyed over 30 summers at the family cabin at Donner Lake near Truckee, Calif. Helen was a lover of life, never retreating from its challenges. She always enjoyed visits from her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Even up to recent years she was the perennial teacher, working on art and sewing projects with enthusiastic students. She was a superb example of the strength and courage of individuals considered to be of the "greatest generation" of this last century. Helen Smith's life demonstrated her compassion for living life to the fullest while smelling the flowers along the way. She will be sorely missed by her family and all who knew her friendship. God bless her as her spirit winds its way heavenward. Friends are invited to attend the funeral from Sorensen Bros. Chapel Monday, March 14, at 9:45 a.m. Thence to All Saints Church, Hayward, for a funeral liturgy commencing at 10:30 a.m. Following the Mass a reception will be held in the church hall. Visitation commencing at the mortuary Monday from 8:30 to 9:45 a.m. Burial will be Tuesday, March 15, at San Juan Bautista District Cemetery at 11 a.m. Sorensen Bros Mortuary (510) 581-1234.

Alameda Times-Star 3/13/05.