Smith, Vinton Parman

BIRTH 8 May 1902
Netawaka, Jackson County, Kansas, USA

DEATH 9 Jun 1972 (aged 70)
Rapid City, Pennington County, South Dakota, USA

BURIAL
Mount Hope Cemetery
Hiawatha, Brown County, Kansas, USA

Vinton Smith was born and raised during most of his youth on a farm 10 miles south of Fairview, Kansas. Mrs. Smith was the former Ferne Lugenbeel, who was born and raised at Padonia, Kansas. The body of Mr. Smith has been found and identified, however, the body of Mrs. Smith has not yet been found.

The Smiths were camping on a creek bank in the Black Hills near Rapid City at the time of the flood. Friends of the Smiths, who lived in the Rapid City area, were also killed in the flood. At this time, their bodies have not been found. The Smiths were camping in their friends' yard when the flood hit.

Burial for Mr. and Mrs. Smith will be in Mount Hope Cemetery in Hiawatha. Arrangements for funeral services will be announced later.

Mrs. Smith is survived by two sisters, Mrs. Lee Weaver, Marion, Kansas, and Mrs. Cecil Allen, Berthoud, Colorado.
Mr. Smith is survived by two sisters . . . Mrs. Harold Roush of Wetmore, and Mrs. Ralph Barge of Topeka . . . and four brothers.

Hiawatha Daily World – June 20, 1972 : Graveside services for Vinton Smith will be held at 11:00 Friday morning, June 23rd, at the Mount Hope Cemetery in Hiawatha, with the reverend Cecil Allen officiating. Mr. Smith was born May 8, 1902, at Netawaka, Kansas. He was married July 7, 1934, to Fern Lugenbeel. They have been living at La Crosse, Wisconsin. Mr. and Mrs. Smith both died June 9th in the Rapid City flooding, and her body has not yet been recovered. Included among the survivors of Mr. Smith is a sister, Mrs. Wilma Barge of Topeka.

Hiawatha Daily World – June 21, 1972 : Additional survivors listed : Mr. Smith is survived by four brothers Walter Smith of Santa Ana, California, Ora Smith of Wichita, Kansas, Ronald Smith of Portland, Oregon, and Eugene Smith of New Boston, Illinois . . . two sisters, Mrs. Harold (Lorena) Roush of Wetmore, Kansas, and Mrs. Ralph (Wilma) Barge of Topeka, Kansas.

Mrs. Smith's survivors include two sisters, Louise Allen of Berthoud, Colorado and Leota Weaver of Merriam, Kansas.
The body of Mr. Smith has been returned to the Meek Mortuary Chapel, Hiawatha, and graveside services are set for Friday morning, June 23rd at Mount Hope Cemetery.

At this time the body of Mrs. Smith has not yet been recovered.

Memorial services are planned for the couple Sunday, June 25th, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, where they had lived for the past 25 years.

Hiawatha Daily World – June 26, 1972 : The body of Mrs. Ferne Smith, 61, La Crosse, Wisconsin, former Brown Countian, was found by searchers in debris in Rapid City, South Dakota, Friday, just three hours after graveside services were held for her husband, Vinton P. Smith here in Hiawatha.

According to an A.P. dispatch, the discovery of her body brought the flood toll to 227. In a conversation with a Rapid City funeral director Saturday morning, it was learned that the number missing or unaccounted for is now down to 14.

Mrs. Smith and her husband were both swept away in the June 9th flood waters in Rapid City when they parked their travel trailer in the yard of friends living on the banks of Rapid Creek. They were on the second night of a long planned vacation in their new travel trailer pulled by a pickup truck.

Mr. Smith's body was recovered soon after the flood and was held for two weeks awaiting the discovery of Mrs. Smith's body in order that joint funeral services might be held for the couple.

Graveside services were held at 11 o'clock Friday morning at Mount Hope Cemetery for Mr. Smith, with the Reverend Cecil Allen, brother-in-law of Mr. Smith, officiating.

The family was notified shortly after 4:00 pm Friday, of the discovery and positive identification of Mrs. Smith's body.

Nella Ferne Smith was born at Padonia, Kansas, on November 6, 1910. She had lived the past 25 years in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and attended the Congregational Church in La Crosse. Her survivors include two sisters : Mrs. Leo (Leota) Weaver of Shawnee Mission, Kansas, and Mrs. Cecil (Louise) Allen of Loveland, Oregon. Graveside services for Mrs. Smith will be held at Mount Hope Cemetery, Hiawatha, at 11 o'clock Friday, June 30th, with the Reverend Cecil Allen officiating.

Hiawatha Daily World – June 27, 1972 : Vinton Smith of La Crosse, Wisconsin, who died in the June 9th flood at Rapid City, South Dakota, was a relative of Ethel and LaVerne Frazey of Hiawatha.