Marjorie M. Smith

Marjorie M. Smith, 94, died Thursday, January 01, 2009, at Westminster Suncoast Manor, St. Petersburg, FL. She was born on the Fleming family farm, Town of Rossie, on November 21, 1914, the daughter of Frank H. and Pearl Fleming Morris. She attended rural schools, Richville High School, and graduated from Dean High School, Gouverneur, in 1931. She received a teaching certificate from Potsdam Normal School in 1934, and later earned a Bachelor of Science from Buffalo State College and a Masters in Education from St. Lawrence University in 1954. She began her teaching career at Hailesboro Union School and retired from Gouverneur Central Schools in 1976 after a career of 40 years. On December 30, 1939 she married LeRoy Irving Smith of Limerick, NY at the Presbyterian parsonage in Binghamton, NY. Mr. Smith died December 30, 1985 in Gouverneur. Mrs. Smith was an elder of First Presbyterian Church, Gouverneur where she was Sunday School Superintendent for many years. She was a founding member of Stagers and later Gouverneur Community Players where she performed in many plays including Everybody Loves Opal, Arsenic and Old Lace and Tom Jones. She was a director of the Gouverneur Reading Room Association for 25 years and of United Helpers Home for 10 years. She was a member of St. Lawrence Travelers Club, E.J Noble Hospital Auxiliary, Gouverneur Retired Teachers, New York State Retired Teachers, Delta Kappa Gamma and the Lions Club. Survivors include a daughter and her husband, Laurel and John McQueen, St. Petersburg, FL, five grandchildren: Willow M. Howlett and her husband Robert, Medway, MA, Christopher B. Rinne, Auburn, MA, John A. Rinne and his future wife Tina M. Ruiz, Marlborough, MA, Kenneth S. McQueen and his wife Carly, Enid, OK, and Kevin L. McQueen, St. Petersburg, FL. A son-in-law, Floyd Peter Rinne, Marlborough, MA, one great-grandson, Thor Foster Howlett, Medway, MA, one sister Arleen Palmer of Mt. Juliet, TN. Other survivors include a nephew, Terry R. Caswell, Waddington, NY and two nieces, Tamara Lowe, Lancaster, OH and Shelley Moore, Mt. Juliet, TN and many grand nieces and nephews. Also dear to her was her AFS daughter, Ruth Trapani Parini of Asuncion, Paraguay. She was pre-deceased by a daughter, Corleen Marie Rinne and a brother, Kenneth F. Morris.