Catherine Smith

Catherine Masson Smith, 92, died March 24 at the Brownlee Care Center, United Presbyterian Home, Washington, following a year-long decline. Funeral services will be 2:00 p.m. Monday, March 29, at the Jones-Eden Funeral Home, Washington, with the Rev. Bob Wollenberg officiating. Burial will be at Elm Grove Cemetery following the service. Visitation is from 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. Sunday, March 28, at Jones-Eden Funeral Home. Catherine Matilda Masson was born in Washington Jan. 21, 1918, to William John and Dora (Montgomery) Masson, the third of five children, growing up in the beautiful house that can still be seen at 1106 E. Van Buren Street. She graduated from Washington High School in 1935, from Washington Community College in 1937 and from the University of Iowa in 1939. Her special gift was music, and she was accomplished on violin, piano and organ. In college she met fellow Washingtonian Frederic E. Smith, a farm boy. They married Feb. 17, 1940, in her parents' home. Frederic was an aerospace engineer. Their longest homes were in Cleveland, Ohio (1940-65) and Seattle, Washington (1965-2001). They had two children: Frederic Jr., born in 1941, and Nancy, in 1944. Her children will always remember, as one of the emblematic sounds of their childhood, Catherine playing "Clare de Lune" on the piano on hot green summer afternoons in Cleveland. Catherine was a lifelong member of P.E.O. and Daughters of the American Revolution. She shared her husband's retirement interest in genealogy, researching the Masson and Montgomery families. Frederic died in 2001 and is buried in Washington. Catherine moved to an apartment at the U.P. Home in 2004 and had five good years there before her health began to fail. Her special delights were her sister, Helen Masson Barker, also in residence at U.P., and her old Washington High School classmates, including first cousin George Masson Jr. Catherine M. Smith is survived by children Frederic (Linda) Smith, Bismarck, N.D., and Nancy Swartos, Mountain Home, Idaho. By grandchildren Rebecca (Swartos) Lampman, Bruneau, Idaho; Samantha (Smith) King, Pelican Rapids, Minn.; Thomas Smith, Hudson, Wisc.; and Winifred (Smith) Anderson, St. Cloud, Minn. By nine great-grandchildren; sister Helen Barker; and 10 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; and by brothers William, Robert and David Masson.

Catherine Smith

January 21, 1918 - March 24, 2010