Smurthwaite, Margaret Eleanor (Heywood) (1895-1992) Short Bios by Barb and Carol

(Mother of the contributor, Richard N. Heywood)

                                                                  MY MOTHER,

                                MARGARET ELEANOR SMURTHWAITE HEYWOOD

By Barbara Lea Heywood Price

            Margaret Eleanor Smurthwaite Heywood, my mother, was a remarkable lady.  She graduated at the head of her class in high school, attended the University of Utah where she received a certificate to teach.

            And teach she did!  For forty-seven years!  During her teaching time she received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Arizona State University.  She raised five children and always held a position in the Church.  The Church jobs were ones of considerable responsibility:  Primary President, Young Women's Stake President, Gospel Doctrine teacher, and she was the director of several Church drama productions in Primary, Mutual and Relief Society, thus utilizing the many talents she developed as she was growing up and also inherited from her family in Wellsville.

            Teaching was her love.  She was often heard to say, "I loved every minute of it!"  In Los Angeles, she was the principal of an all black school for a time.  She taught elementary, high school and college.  When she retired from teaching in Mesa she moved to Hawaii and taught in the Church College there.  Now, you may think, "How could she do all that and raise a family, too?"  Well, she certainly did, and with a wonderful flair.

            At home, she never spared herself.  Our meals were always good.  We sat down to our Sunday meals with lovely dishes, a table cloth and tasty dinners.  Of course, we helped.  She was a great supervisor.

            Her seamstress abilities were wonderful.  She made clothes for all of us, sometimes from newly purchased material and occasionally a makeover from something Jo had grown out of.  The things she made were always very fine.  My dresses were beautiful.

            Now, Mom was simply outstanding in almost everything; however, her auto driving was not her best thing.  She just didn't have that kind of talent.  She always felt that she was lacking in mechanical skills.  She had never learned to skate or ride a bicycle.  My dad, Leland, taught her to drive a car after they were married.  Mom never did like to drive so as soon as we were old enough, the keys were handed to us to be her special drivers.  First, Josephine, then, Barbara, then Al, and finally, Richard.  Then, much later, Carol gladly took on that job.

            Mom was the navigator.  When one of her grandsons, Bill Price, was fourteen years old and visiting her in Hawaii, she handed him the keys and he drove her all over Oahu.  (I didn't find that out for many years afterward.)

            Another thing about Mom and cars was she didn't recognize different makes too well, and recognizing her own car was sometimes a problem.  Such was the time she got into Bill Tucker's car and drove it home from the store (the key fit!!).  Of course, Bill Tucker thought his car was stolen.  Everything worked out though.

            Mom was cheerful and had a positive disposition.  She didn't just assign us household jobs, she worked with us cleaning windows, hanging laundry, and fixing meals.  She had a tendency to say yes to our requests (well, of course, they were reasonable---most of the time).  She told me that she needed to do that because she felt that Leland, my Dad, was a bit too negative about things.

            Mom was active, reasonably healthy and always happy to see us until the last part of her life.  The last three years were not so good.  She didn't recognize us, thought I was Sara, and I didn't mind.  Having her for a mother was one of the greatest things that could ever have happened to me!

                                                                                                                     Barbara Lea Heywood  Price      

                                                           NOTES FROM CAROL

            There are many fond memories I have of my Mother.  Mom loved to shop.  We had many great shopping trips together.  There was the "2 for 1" sale at "Lewis" Shoe Store in Phoenix.  She would really stock up on shoes then.  She loved fine things and knew where to get them.  As we shopped she taught me how to choose fine quality.  She would take me dress shopping and show me how we could buy the material and copy a pattern and how to add to the boughten pattern to make it like the dress we had seen.  Once we were in a fine crystal shop and because they had the Fostoria Red Goblets on sale, she bought all they had.  Another time when my daughter Amy was small and Mother had six granddaughters all about the same age we came across six long dresses (red checked) that she bought the store's supply.

            Mother had a great gift for putting her thoughts on paper.  She knew how to word a letter to me, especially when I was down.  Her letters were so special and she knew how to pick one's spirit up.

            She had a zest for life and was full of enthusiasm.  When she told a story to her family or read to her English Literature class, she became engulfed in her stories.  She loved a lovely home and was a wonderful example of what a mother stands for.  I am so blessed to have had her as a parent.  She taught me the finer things in life and how to enjoy life itself.  Our holidays were great.  She made them special.

            My Mom even shopped for the best housekeepers, gardeners, ironers, etc.  She knew the true meaning of "Shop until you drop!"

Carol Jayne Heywood French