Mary Estelle Smith

Mary Estelle Smith, age ninety, passed into the arms of our Lord on October 4, 2026. She was born May 4, 1936, in Owen, Wisconsin, to Joseph and Aletha Jascor. A woman of remarkable energy and heart, she was a devoted mother of five, grandmother of thirteen, and great-grandmother of sixteen.

Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Charles (Chuck) Smith, and her younger sister, Patricia Jascor. She is survived by her siblings, JoAnn Krause (Don, deceased) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Joseph Jascor and his wife, Ann, of Medford, Wisconsin.

She is also survived by her five children and their spouses: Scott Allen Smith and Karen Sue of Enid, Oklahoma; Douglas Charles Smith and Angela Kirsten of Fairhope, Alabama; Michele Rae Sutton and Jim Lester of Edmond, Oklahoma; Melissa Dawn Barnes of Cedar Park, Texas; and Christopher Todd Smith and Christina Lee of Spokane, Washington.

Mary’s thirteen grandchildren are Jason Allen Smith (Amber), Justin Derek Smith (Nancy), Jacob Douglas Smith (Bryanna), Alexandra De Sousa (Erik), Taylor Anderson Behmard (Bardia), Tyr Jackson Sitton, Garrett James Sutton (Hayle), Lauren Michele Tonseth (Drew), Channa Rae Roach (De’Andre), Talee Shea Dowd (Chase), Keegan Brae Barnes, Jerzie Tae Barnes, and Chase Smith.

She also leaves sixteen great-grandchildren, and counting: Magnus Charles, Evangeline Marie-Alexandra, Rafael, and Margaux Marie-Michelle De Sousa; Louis Anderson and Daisy Josephine Behmard; Kassandra Mae and Talia Anastasia Smith; Stiles Dowd; Eyla Barnes; James Tonseth; Dakota Michael Cribb; Cayden Matthew Futrell; Skylar Allen and Alexander Hart Smith; and Lillian Noel Futrell.

Mary was a fiercely independent woman who grew up on a dairy, horse, cattle, and mink farm under the hard-nosed but loving tutelage of her father, Joe. In their younger years on the farm, Mary was the tough one of three sisters. While her sisters volunteered to work inside, cleaning the house, Mary was chosen to work outside with Grandpa. He was not an easy man, but Mary could handle him.

As a young woman still at home, she barrel-raced her horse, Ginger, in rodeos, pursuing a lifelong love of horses. Family lore brings a laugh: Ginger would tolerate no rider but Mary. One day while Mary was away, JoAnn and Patsy saddled up that horse for a ride. Off they went... and the horse took off at full speed, raced a mile or two on gravel roads to a river without a bridge, and tossed them both in. Then the horse returned home to wait for Mary.

Mary met Charles Herman Smith after moving to Minneapolis to work at Pillsbury, she as a secretary and he as a mill floor sweeper. They married at twenty-one and remained together, enjoying life, family, and friends, until Chuck’s death at seventy-three.

Mary had a gift for growing anything green, indoors and out, roses especially. She also enjoyed designing and building homes for her family, and she did so often, each one a horse property, as she and Chuck raised five children while his rising career carried them from Minneapolis to Enid, Oklahoma; to Drummond, Oklahoma; to Buffalo, New York; back to Enid; then Kremlin, Oklahoma; and at last, to Edmond, Oklahoma, where she lived the longest chapter of a full and active life.

Mary and Chuck loved to dance. Even after Chuck went to Heaven, Mary — a teetotaler — kept dancing weekly to country music at Mill Bar and elsewhere, two-stepping and line-dancing with the ladies.

She had endless energy and boundless determination, mowing her own five-acre property and caring for her horses until she moved into assisted living just a few years ago. She was a longtime volunteer at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum and a lifelong, active member and volunteer with the Catholic Church. For the last decades of her life, she worshipped at St. Monica Catholic Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Monica Catholic Church, 2001 N Western Ave, Edmond, OK 73012, at 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 8th.