Ruth Lee (Swigert) Smith, 88, of Warrensburg, died April 8. She was a witty, graceful mother, grandmother and great-grandmother who will be missed by many.

Visitation will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 13, at the First Christian Church of Warrensburg, with services to follow at 11 a.m.

Pallbearers will be Rick Briscoe, Jim Dahman, Bill Gabel, Steve Granger, David Handly and John Willard. Honorary pallbearers are Gary Baldwin, Jerry Evans, Harry Gelbach, C.L. Holdren, Don Hoover, Lynn Solomon and Earl Uhler.

Ruth Lee was born to Willis Allyn Swigert and Mary Eliza (McIntire) Swigert in Leeton, Missouri, Nov. 15, 1927. She graduated from Leeton High School in 1945 and received a bachelor’s degree in business from Central Missouri State Teachers College in 1949. She was a member of Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority for which she served as chapter president. While in school, she worked for Johnson County Title Company, where she later returned to work in the early 1960s. She received a master’s degree in English from the later-renamed Central Missouri State University (now the University of Central Missouri) in 1977.

In her first job after college, she taught at Sugar Creek Junior High School in Sugar Creek, Missouri, from 1949 to 1951. She was enlisted to coach the school’s all-girls’ basketball team, becoming a quick study of the game.

After receiving an engagement ring in the mail from her young suitor, Cy Smith, their life’s journey together began. On Aug. 31, 1951, she married Cyrus Haigler Smith in Leeton. She worked in civil service at Strategic Air Command (SAC) headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska, from 1951 to 1953, while her husband was serving in the U.S. Air Force. From 1959 to 1963, she taught at Kirksville Junior and Senior High schools, supporting her family while her husband was in medical school. From 1963 to 1964, while her husband completed his medical internship, she taught at the Junior High School in Carson City, Michigan. A year later, she and her husband, along with their two young children, moved to Warrensburg, where his parents resided. There, he began his medical practice and she spent the majority of her teaching years at Warrensburg High School, from 1965 to 1987. She taught English, typing and business, and met many lifelong friends.

In 1990, her husband, Dr. Cy Smith, preceded her in death after 39 years of marriage. She also was preceded in death by her sister, Jean Wallace, who died in 2011. She is survived by her brother, Jack Swigert and wife, Thelma, of Windsor; two children, Cynthia L. Gabel of Warrensburg, and Dr. C. Daniel Smith and wife, Robin (Pierceall) Smith, of St. Joseph; and grandchildren Gina (Gabel) Jolly and husband, Chris, of Jefferson City, Missouri; Alyson (Gabel) Appleton and husband, Jesse, of St. Louis; Dr. J. Michael Smith and wife, Kailee, of Hanover, New Hampshire; and T. Nicholas Smith and fiancée, Emily Campbell, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and two great-grandchildren, Carissa Lee Jolly and Andrew Harrison Jolly.

 

When she wasn’t day trading stocks, following politics or alerting newspapers of their improper grammar, she was disparaging Kansas Jayhawks basketball – and enjoying their losses. She was a lifetime member of the First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), serving as treasurer for many years, as well as trustee, deaconess and Christian Women’s Fellowship treasurer.  In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions are suggested to the First Christian Church of Warrensburg and can be left in care of Sweeney-Phillips & Holdren Funeral Home.