Frances Bachman Smith

Frances Bachman Smith of Austin, Texas, loved spending time on Mackinac Island, where she had spent every summer since she was a child. She was a 1933 graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts, and a junior member of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation's oldest and largest academic honor society. She received a Woodrow Wilson Prize in economics, and used her background in economics to work for a Kansas City bank, eventually rising to the rank of trust officer. She spent much of her life in Kansas City and on Mackinac Island.

Mrs. Smith died at the age of 93 Monday, February 13, in Austin. She had been living at Westminster Manor in Austin.

She was born December of 1912, in Kansas City, Missouri, to Frances Smith Bachman and Emil Bachman.

She was graduated from Notre Dame de Slon High School in Kansas City, and went on to attend Wellesley College. Following graduation from college, she returned to Kansas City in the midst of the Great Depression, and worked various jobs. Her first job was at a soda fountain at Wolferman's Grocery in Kansas City.

Mrs. Smith had many interests, and is remembered by friends and family as a "knitter of consummate skill," and as an avid reader.

"In her wide reading, (she) was greatly devoted to Biblical studies in the context of the classical world," her son, Reverend Ronald Smith said.

One of her favorite activities was walking in the woods, and family members recall she "was devoted to the beauty of the natural world." She was a member of Trinity Episcopal Church on Mackinac Island, and will be buried on the island, in the midst of the woods she loved.

Mrs. Smith is survived by two children and their families, The Reverend Ronald Smith of Austin, Texas and Melissa Elliott of La Jolla, California.

She was preceded in death by her husband, J. Neil Smith of Kansas City.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests that donations in her memory be made to the Institute for the Study of Antiquity and Christian Origins at the University of Texas, Waggener Hall 212 (C 3450), Austin, Texas 78712.

A memorial service and reception were held in Harris Bell Hall, at Westminster Manor Friday, February 17.