Ethel May Smith

Ethel May Cross Smith-Hoover

Ethel Smith, age 95, of Miami, Florida and formerly of Elgin, died June 12, 2016 at her home. A graveside service will be held on Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 3:30 p.m. at the Elgin Cemetery. A Celebration of Life service will follow at 4:00 p.m. at the Elgin Harvester's Church of the Nazarene. Arrangements are entrusted to Daniels~Knopp Funeral, Cremation & Life Celebration Center.

Ethel was born on January 10, 1921 in St. Maries, Idaho, the daughter of Hallie S. Cross and Dora Long Cross. She was the last survivor of 9 children born of her parents' union: Lloyd, Ellis, Dorothy, Wilbur, Edwin, Kenneth and a male child who died in infancy. She was married to Arthur Smith of Elgin, Oregon for 53 years. They had 3 children together, William Smith currently of Pyongtek, Korea (married to Chong Sun Kim), Arley Smith of Portland, Oregon (married to Pamela Crum), and Roselyn Smith of Miami, Florida. Arthur predeceased her in September 1993 at the age of 80. She remarried James "Bus" Hoover, of Imbler, Oregon in 1999 and had 11 beautiful years of love and romance with him before his passing in 2010, shortly after which she moved to Miami to live with her daughter, where she remained until her death on Sunday, June 12, 2016. She is survived by her children, grandchildren Michel Smith (Elizabeth) of North Carolina, James Smith (Amy), a missionary in Japan, Amber Carroll (Donny), of Florida, Randy Dougherty (Monica), Terry Smith, Brian Crum, and Sonny Smith, all of Oregon. She was predeceased by grandsons Jeffrey Smith and J.W. Crum. She was also the proud and loving great grandmother and great-great grandmother of her ever increasing family and the beloved family matriarch of both the Cross and Smith extended families, with limitless love for her nephews and nieces, cousins, and all of their families.

Ethel was an influential member of the community of Elgin and throughout Union County. A long-standing member of the Board of Directors, Choir Director, and Sunday School teacher and Sunday School Superintendent, at one point, at the Elgin Church of the Nazarene, her spiritual home for over 70 years, a reporter and eventually owner/editor/publisher of The Elgin Recorder weekly newspaper, an Elgin City Councilwoman, member of the Union County Land Use Planning Commission , Chairwoman of the Women's Service Club and recipient of their Woman of the Year Award in 1984, Chairwoman of the Elgin Chamber of Commerce and recipient of their Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991, contributing author to Elgin International, a compendium of historical accounts of various communities named Elgin throughout the world, responsible for the designation of the Elgin Opera House as a historic building on the National Historic Registry, host of a bi-monthly (NOTE: I think it was bi-monthly) radio show, "Elgin On the Air," on station KLBM and co-owner of the White House of Crafts and Fabrics, a local fabric store she owned with Delores Houston, formerly of Elgin.

Most importantly, Ethel will be remembered as a gentle, loving soul who loved and served God, her family and her community. She always had a beautiful smile, time to lend an ear, compassion, comfort and love for all she met.

.