Matthias Foss Cowley Smith died on Monday, February 5, 1990 of causes incident to age at the home of his son, David L. Smith in Las Cruces, New Mexico.


Foss was born October 1, 1905 in a log house in Snowflake, Arizona, the son of Jesse Nathaniel and Emma (Larson) Smith. He was named after the early LDS Apostle, Matthias Foss Cowley, who was a dear friend of his father, Jesse N. Smith.


Foss married Cleona Olsen, of LaJara, Colorado, on March 21, 1933 in the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple. She preceded him in death on February 4, 1980. They are the parents of five children. The children and their spouses are: J. Norman and Colleen (Bates) Smith, Layton, UT; Linnea and Ralph D. Barney, Orem, UT; Dorene and Robert E. Taylor, Northbrook IL; Kevan F. and Susan (Torgesen) Smith, Holladay, UT; and David L. and Diane (Cardon) Smith, Las Cruces, NM. Foss is also survived by 27 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.


Foss was a career educator and held many teaching and administrative positions in schools in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado. The majority of his career was spent in the Farmington, NM Public Schools. Following his retirement from that school system in 1965, he taught two additional years in Southeastern Utah. He lived the last several years of his life in Orem, UT before moving to Las Cruces to live with his son, David.


Foss was one of the very few first generation descendants of an early Mormon polygamous family to have survived to this day. He was the 44th and youngest child of Jesse N. Smith, and the ninth and youngest child of his immediate family. His mother, Emma Larson, a native of West Jordan, UT, was the fifth of Jesse N. Smith's five wives. His father was the first cousin of Mormon Church Prophet Joseph Smith, was one of the Mormon pioneers to enter the Salt Lake Valley in 1847, and was a leader in the Mormon colonizing effort in Snowflake, AZ. Foss was the last surviving child of Jesse N. Smith.


Foss was a quiet, unassuming man who took great pride in his family and found much joy in life-long service to the LDS Church. He served the Church as a high councilor, Bishop's counselor, seminary teacher, ward clerk, High Priests group leader, and as officer or teacher in Sunday School, YMMIA, and priesthood quorums. He served an LDS mission to Sweden between 1925-1927.


He had a great love for all of his extended family, and especially for his immediate family of brothers and sisters--Hyrum, Caroline, Don Carlos, Lorana, Lehi Larson, George Albert, Aikens, and Myrtle.


Funeral Services will be held on Saturday, February 10, 1990 in Snowflake, Arizona at the Snowflake 1st Ward Chapel on Main Street, beginning at 1 p.m. Friends may call at the Smith Memorial Home, corner of Smith Avenue and Hulet Street, Snowflake, between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. that day.
Interment will be at the Snowflake Cemetery.
Published in the Deseret News on 2/8/1990.