May Adelle Smith

*Updated service information due to weather: The memorial service has been rescheduled to Saturday, January 25, 2020 at 11:00 A.M., with visitation from 10:00 to 11:00 A.M., at the Centrum Chapel in Eventide Fargo, 3225 51st St. S. Fargo, ND.

Another nonagenarian from the Greatest Generation has passed.  At 94 years and 3 months, May Smith, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, died peacefully and comfortably at Eventide in Fargo on January 7, 2020.  She left this physical life just like she lived her life-with practicality and consideration for others.  Her mental abilities remained.  She had a great run.

May Adelle Swift was born October 1, 1925 in Elgin, ND, to Ray and Dorothy (Evanson) Swift.  She grew up on a ranch in Glen Ullin, ND and graduated from Glen Ullin High School in 1944.  After high school she spent one year working as a shipfitter in Tacoma, WA.  May returned to Fargo and attended North Dakota Agricultural College (now NDSU) for 4 years, graduating in 1949 with a degree in home economics.  She taught in Wishek, ND for one year.

On June 24, 1950, May was united in marriage to Jack Smith in Glen Ullin and they remained together for 55 years.  The first home they owned was a small acreage in West Fargo.  May and Jack relocated to Detroit Lakes after buying the Sunlite Grocery on Little Floyd Lake in 1956.  They operated the small resort store until 1960, making many friends in the area.  Afterwards, May became a homemaker for their 3 children: Laurie, Jill and Garner.

May loved residential design and over the years May and Jack remodeled and built several homes together in the Detroit Lakes area.  She enjoyed home decorating and restoring antique furniture.  She maintained abundant vegetable and flower gardens.  She traveled throughout the country, as well as Germany and Spain, visiting friends and relatives.

In 2005, after years of improving properties and taking care of rural acreages, May and Jack moved from Detroit Lakes to Moorhead, MN.  Jack passed away in late 2005.  In 2016, at age 90, May moved into Eventide Fargo Senior Living Apartments where she enjoyed the services and made many friends.

She was a long-time member of the United Church of God in Fargo and considered its members to be a part of her family.  May will always be remembered for her happy optimism.

May is survived by her children, Laurie Laney (Richard Smith), Pasadena, CA, Jill (Jeffrey) Berg, West Fargo, ND, and Garner Smith, Dilworth, MN; brother, Virgil “Pat” (Margaret) Swift, Glen Ullin, ND; sisters, Ethel Flynn, Tacoma, WA and Avis Halpern, Oxford, MS; grandchildren, Sheena (Adam) Burt, Hastings, MN and Sasha (Matthew) Ham, Fargo; great-grandchildren, Kyle Burt, Ryan Burt and Mason Ham; and several nieces and nephews.  She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Jack; and brothers-in-law Bob Flynn and Michael Halpern.

The family wishes to express their deep gratitude to Eventide Fargo and Ethos Hospice for their care and concern for May.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 18, 2020, at 11:00 A.M., with visitation from 10:00 to 11:00 A.M., at the Centrum Chapel in Eventide Fargo, 3225 51^st St. S. Fargo, ND.

Memorials are preferred to Eventide in Fargo.