Maude Smith

Maude Smith, 100, of Aberdeen, SD, passed away Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at Bethesda Home of Aberdeen.

Memorial Service will be 1:00 p.m., Thursday, October 27, 2022, at Schriver’s Memorial Chapel, Aberdeen, with Lay Pastor Mike Kampa. Visitation will be one hour before the service at the mortuary.

Burial will be at Riverside Memorial Cemetery.

Schriver’s Memorial Mortuary and Crematory, 414 5th Avenue NW, Aberdeen, is in charge of arrangements.  Family and friends may sign the online guestbook and also view the service at www.schriversmemorial.com.

Maude M Dixon was born January 28th, 1922, to Elmer and Esther (Anderson) Dixon in Montevideo, Minnesota. The family moved to Aberdeen when she was a toddler.  Maude was the eldest of six children. She had three brothers, Russell, Richard, and Jimmy, and two sisters, Shirley and Sally. Fiercely protective of her siblings, Maude once defended her brother Russell against a neighborhood bully, pushing him into a snowbank, sitting on him saying, “Don’t ever pick on my brother again.”  We’re pretty sure he didn’t. Just one of many stories growing up on West Hill.

Maude attended school in Aberdeen, graduating from Central High School in 1941. A prolific athlete, Maude excelled at any sport she participated in. She was regarded as the city’s best softball pitcher. She pitched on several men’s teams, including the Aberdeen Service Club’s Squad where she was the team’s star hurler and at one time was the star batter for the Service Club’s softball team. She won several championships in softball, and ice skating. She was also a champion bowler.  She held the women’s high average among Aberdeen bowlers, and for one year, the championship in Women’s Singles. She threw a 16-pound ball so hard, the pin setters refused to set for her. She also won a 600 series pin, bowling several perfect games.

Her family was always amazed how this woman, who was such a jock, could still dress so fashionably and look lovely in dresses and jewelry. You never found a wrinkle in her clothes, or our sheets, pillowcases, tee shirts, or underwear. If it had a wrinkle, it was ironed.

After graduating high school, Maude began working for the Milwaukee Railroad in Aberdeen as a messenger, walking about 25 miles a day delivering messages to businesses, notifying them of the delivery of goods. It was estimated that after four years she had walked 29,000 miles. Maude worked at several businesses in Aberdeen during her long life, including Chaffin’s, The Main, and Malchow’s. After retiring in her 80s, Maude continued to be active in many different volunteer positions, ranging from ringing a bell for the Salvation Army to delivering Meals on Wheels for the Aberdeen Senior Center. She was never one to be idle.

In 1946, Maude married Harold Soike, and they had two daughters, Shirley and Susan. Maude and Harold divorced in 1954, and in 1961 Maude married Doug Smith. Together they had a daughter, Shawn. Later she became a proud grandmother of two, Mike Spear Jr. and Stephanie (Spear) Pack, great-grandmother of six, and in April of 2022, became a great-great-grandmother to Luca Michael Spear.

Maude was always known for working hard and playing hard. Great memories were made at Melgaard and Wylie Park, Pickerel Lake, and Big Stone Lake where the family had many picnics, celebrated birthdays and camped. She and her best friend Myrt Buske would bake for days before Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. She made sure family celebrations were special. Many summers were spent at the ballpark watching the Pheasants play. Maude was also an avid fan of the Minnesota Twins.

She was dearly loved and will be missed by many. She touched many lives in her 100 years on earth.

Maude was preceded in death by her parents; her daughter Shirley; four of her five siblings; a niece Trish Mack; and her son-in-law Mike Spear.

Grateful for having shared Maude’s life are her two remaining daughters, Susan Spear of Rogers, AR, and Shawn Smith of Aberdeen; two grandchildren, Michael (Tricia) Spear, of NC, and Stephanie Pack of CO; six great-grandchildren: Shane (Nicole) Spear and their son Luca Michael, CJ Spear, Christopher Ogle, Jenna Ogle, Eric Ogle, and Charlie Pack.

Maude’s family wants to extend a special thanks to the many people at Bethesda Home who loved and cared for their mother.

Charitable donations in Maude’s honor can be made to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Disabled American Veterans, and the Aberdeen Area Humane Society.