Individual Details

Clara stopped going to school after the 8th grade to stay home to take care of her sick mother. She was hanging laundry out to dry when her future husband William saw her from his train. He was a train engineer. He thought she was very pretty. She had blue eyes and blonde hair. She was a very motherly woman and loved babies. Her hobbies or skills were sewing and making braided wool rugs. She was known for her delicious cinnamon rolls.

Clara Smith homesteaded at Mobridge, South Dakota with her five eldest children (to Harry). This was at Isabelle, South Dakota. It was located near the North Dakota border, closest town was Lemon. This was about 1910. Her father-in-law was with her and the children while her husband William continued to work for the railroad. They lived in South Dakota a short while and then returned to Iowa. They lived at Waterloo, Iowa until after William Ara died. Clara and her daughters May and Ila Jeanne moved to Long Beach, California in 1943.

Obituary from Waterloo Courier, Sunday March 28, 1982: Clara D. Smith: Services for Clara D. Smith, 98, of Long Beach, Cal. and formerly of Waterloo are pending at the Parrott and Wood Funeral Home and Chapel. She died Saturday afternoon at Woodruff Convalescent Center, Bellflower, Cal. She was born Mar. 3, 1884 at Nashua, Iowa, the daughter of Tom and Jenny Brisco. She married William A. Smith Oct. 19, 1900. He died in 1943. She was a 50 year member of the Helen Gould Auxiliary of the Spanish American War Veterans. A 50 year member of the Waterloo Chapter of the Eastern Star. She left Waterloo in 1945. Survivors include three sons, William of 1414 W. Fifth St., Harry of Long Beach, Cal., Howard of 1101 Short St., three daughters May B. Smith and Jeanne Bauer of Long Beach, Cal. and Mrs. Ema Harrington of Oelwein, Ia. grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Waterloo Courier, Wednesday March 31, 1982: Services for Clara D. Smith, 98, of Long Beach, Cal. and formerly of Waterloo, will be at 10:30 A.M. Thursday at Parrott and Wood Funeral Home Chapel with burial at Elmwood Cemetery. She died Saturday in California. Friends may call at the funeral home after noon today.

Birth	3 Mar 1884	Nashua, Chickasaw Co., Iowa
Marriage	19 Oct 1900	Osage, Mitchell Co., Iowa - William Ara Smith
Death	27 Mar 1982	Bellflower, Los Angeles Co., California
Burial		Elmwood Cemetery, Waterloo, Black Hawk Co., Iowa

Spouse	William Ara Smith (1875 - 1943)
Child	Henry Smith (1901 - 1901)
Child	Genevieve Clara Smith (1903 - 1975)
Child	William Carley Smith (1904 - 1994)
Child	May Blossom Smith (1905 - 1992)
Child	Ema Ida Smith (1908 - 1999)
Child	Harry Raymond Smith (1911 - 1984)
Child	Howard Ara Smith (1914 - 1997)
Child	Ila Jeanne Smith (1925 - )

Father	Thomas Jefferson Briscoe (1846 - 1908)
Mother	Jennie Lee Clason (1858 - 1908)
Sibling	Grace May Brisco (1880 - 1944)
Sibling	Clyde Clifford Brisco (1884 - 1959)
Sibling	Ora Alice Brisco (1889 - 1953)
Sibling	Benjamin Harrison Brisco (1890 - 1969)
Sibling	Elizabeth "Bessie" Fern Brisco (1894 - 1916)