A celebration of life for Elouise Mary (Davis) Smith, who passed away Dec. 19, 2007, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept.  7, at the Palmer Senior Center. Smith’s family will host a brunch at the center where she enjoyed many years of close fellowship with other Valley seniors.

 Smith was born Jan. 1, 1915, the second of four children of Stephen Davis and Ethel Jenkins, a cattle ranching family in Carroll, Neb. In the Great Depression, her family lost everything and moved to Payette, Idaho, where they picked fruit until her father started a hamburger stand. Smith graduated from Payette High School in 1926. Later, her father became the foreman of a ranch in Deer Island, Ore., where she rode horses, roped calves and hunted deer. While working at a Safeway store in Marshfield, Ore., she met George Edwin “Ed” Smith. They married on April 15, 1936, in Longview, Wash.

 World War II separated them for three years while Ed served in the Navy. Before the war, Ed worked in Alaska with the Civilian Conservation Corps building cabins and barns for the Matanuska Colony project. In 1946, only days after he was discharged from the Navy, Ed, Elouise and their baby, Stanley, set out on the Alaska Highway when it was first opened to civilian traffic. Many times they were towed through mud patches by teams of horses. Arriving in Anchorage, they lived in the Fairview area for a year. They attended the First Methodist Church and Smith helped found the Anchorage chapter of the women’s sorority, PEO. She was the first president.  In 1949, they bought 80 acres on Bodenburg Loop Road near Palmer. They built a basement and lived in it while they finished the house above them. They gardened, hunted moose and fished in Jim Creek. Together, they raised three children, Stan, Ron and Barbara, who enjoyed raising horses, geese, cats and dogs as well as gardening and growing close as a family.

 They opened and operated Ketchikan Spruce Mills lumber yard in Palmer. They were among the volunteers who built the first Valley hospital that wasn’t a tent. They attended the United Protestant Church, the “Church of a Thousand Trees.” Smith was a Cub Scout den mother, Camp Fire leader and past local and state PTA president.

 For 14 years, she was the business manager for the Mat-Su School District. Previously, she was an independent bookkeeper for several Valley businesses. Smith actively supported Ed when he was executive director of the Associated General Contractors of Alaska, attending and participating in many meetings and conventions.

 After the 1964 earthquake, she motivated her sons to help their neighbors in need while she and her daughter cooked meals for neighbors and family.

 After retiring from the school district, Smith stayed active at the Palmer Senior Citizen Center. She was on the board for nine years, serving as secretary one year and president eight years. She enjoyed close friendships and social events there. Until her eyesight began to fail, she was a daily visitor.

 Smith loved fishing the Kenai and was extraordinarily proud of being 67 years old when she caught a 67-pound king that equaled her age.

She also enjoyed celebrating several birthdays with her entire family in Kona, Hawaii, her family said.

She was preceded in death by her siblings, Rayburn and Lucille; her parents, Steven Davis and Ethel Jenkins Davis Little; and husband, Ed.

 Smith is survived by her brother Ronald Davis; sons and daughter Stan, Ron and Barbara; daughters-in-law Bec and Natasha; son-in-law Tim; grandchildren Shannon, Stephanie, Steve, Terri, Juhree, Cynthia, Erin, Airika and Alexandra “Sasha;” many great-grandchildren; and brother- and sisters-in-law. Her oldest son Stan passed on in May 2008 after a long struggle with cancer.

 Donations in her memory are suggested to the Palmer Senior Citizen Center, 831 S. Chugach St., Palmer 99645.

“The family is grateful to the many close friends, medical professionals and caregivers who provided comfort to their mother, and especially to Hospice of Palmer, which helped her and the family in her final days,” they wrote.

 Arrangements were with Kehl’s Palmer Mortuary.