Lois F. Smail
September 6, 1927 — June 5, 2023
Lois F. Smail
Lois Smail of Britton, SD, Manhattan, KS, and Staunton, and points east and west on four continents passed away on Monday, June 5, 2023 at Brightview Baldwin Park in Staunton.
She was born Lois Joyce Farrar in Britton, SD on September 6, 1927 to Virgil William and Venetia Taylor Farrar. She was the fourth of five children, all of whom predeceased her: Bonnie (Tomlin), Irma Jean (Blean), Virgil, and Frank. She was especially close with and proud of her younger brother, Frank Farrar, who served as Governor of South Dakota.
She attended the Northwest Institute of Medical Technology in Minneapolis and became a Laboratory Technician. She also attended Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD.
Lois married Robert W. Smail, her husband of 68 years, in June of 1948. She raised two children and supported her husband’s career as an educator with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in South Dakota, at Clarion State College in Pennsylvania, and with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cambodia, the Philippines, Mali, Liberia and Nigeria, Nepal, and Thailand, and as a consultant in Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Jordan.
In 1996, after retirement, Lois and Bob moved to Manhattan, KS to be near their son Virgil’s family. Following Bob’s death in 2015, Lois moved to Staunton to be near her daughter.
She enjoyed walking (great distances), playing bridge, making connections, and saying what she thought.
She is survived by her children, Robin Dietrich of Staunton, VA and Virgil Smail of Klamath Falls, OR and their respective spouses Rick and Nan; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
The family mourns the loss of a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
She will rest beside her husband at the Kansas Veteran’s Cemetery in Manhattan after a family service.
She was born Lois Joyce Farrar in Britton, SD on September 6, 1927 to Virgil William and Venetia Taylor Farrar. She was the fourth of five children, all of whom predeceased her: Bonnie (Tomlin), Irma Jean (Blean), Virgil, and Frank. She was especially close with and proud of her younger brother, Frank Farrar, who served as Governor of South Dakota.
She attended the Northwest Institute of Medical Technology in Minneapolis and became a Laboratory Technician. She also attended Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD.
Lois married Robert W. Smail, her husband of 68 years, in June of 1948. She raised two children and supported her husband’s career as an educator with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in South Dakota, at Clarion State College in Pennsylvania, and with the U.S. Agency for International Development in Cambodia, the Philippines, Mali, Liberia and Nigeria, Nepal, and Thailand, and as a consultant in Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, and Jordan.
In 1996, after retirement, Lois and Bob moved to Manhattan, KS to be near their son Virgil’s family. Following Bob’s death in 2015, Lois moved to Staunton to be near her daughter.
She enjoyed walking (great distances), playing bridge, making connections, and saying what she thought.
She is survived by her children, Robin Dietrich of Staunton, VA and Virgil Smail of Klamath Falls, OR and their respective spouses Rick and Nan; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
The family mourns the loss of a beloved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.
She will rest beside her husband at the Kansas Veteran’s Cemetery in Manhattan after a family service.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Lois F. Smail, please visit our flower store.
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