Former general Relief Society president dies
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Obituary provided by Barbara B. Smith's family
Barbara Bradshaw Smith, Relief Society general president from October 1974 to April 1984, passed away Monday night, Sept. 13.
The setting of her passing typified what was most important to her: Her loving family was with her at the moment she drew her last breath. Sister Smith, 88, is mother of three sons and four daughters; she has 39 grandchildren and 84 great-grandchildren.
Her husband, Elder Douglas H. Smith, a former member of the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy, passed away Jan. 29,2009.
In her role as the 10th general president of Relief Society, Sister Smith traveled to many countries, met with kings and queens, presidents, prime ministers, governors and numerous other national, regional, state and civic leaders. During all her travels and presence at official functions, her focus remained fixed on home and family.
In an article she wrote for the Church News, Sister Smith avowed: "'All the world is a stage and each one plays a part' is a popular paraphrase from Shakespeare. …Each mother should be the leading lady on life's stage.…
"Being part of the life-giving moment is a great and significant thing that each mother finds anew with wonder and discovery. Although it has happened millions of times through all the centuries of time, each moment of birth, when hallowed by the eternal perspective of the restored gospel, is in fact a new beginning in the drama of life….
"The magnitude of the challenge to rear a family is hard to comprehend. It requires the most continued effort on the part of a mother so that she can grow fast enough to be able to enrich her children by the quality of her own life.
"Certainly a house needs order. Certainly, it needs to be a place of preparation where needs can be met. Just as certainly, it needs to be a place of stimulation where people can grow in faith and knowledge and where their hearts can expand with wisdom and love and service. The great message for all mothers is to accept the challenge of the mighty task. Rearing children is worthy of our best efforts and the joys and blessings of this challenge are great…..
"Motherhood is a cause to command the best effort of every woman who has the opportunity. The care and training of the next generation is a cause to engage the finest minds and the greatest spirits in the world today, just as it has been in the past" ("Let every day be Mother's Day," Church News, April 30, 1977, p. 3).
Lillian Kaye Alldredge, a daughter, told the Deseret News on Monday night, "'To her dying breath she was concerned about other people and how they could be helped and lifted and blessed in their life."
"She was just an exemplary woman in every aspect," said Lowell Virgil Smith, one of Sister Smith's sons. He recalled that when she was set apart as the general president of the Relief Society, President Spencer W. Kimball said she would be a light and inspiration to the women of the world. Family members and others who knew her attest that she fulfilled that prophecy.
"If anybody was ready to go, she was," her brother, Thomas R. Bradshaw, told the Deseret News Monday night. "She had done so much for so many people and traveled the world as well."
She was born in Salt Lake City on Jan. 26, 1922, to Daniel Delos and Dorothy Helen Mills Bradshaw.
A viewing for Sister Smith is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 19, from 6-8 p.m. in the Larkin Mortuary, 260 East South Temple St. in Salt Lake City. The funeral is scheduled for noon on Monday, Sept. 20, in the Ensign Second Ward building, 135 North “A” Street in Salt Lake City. A viewing will be held for an hour prior to the funeral. — Gerry Avant
