Doreen B (Kurtz) Smith was born Jan. 8, 1922, in Wheatland, WY, to Fred E “Fritz” and Elta L. (Kretsinger) Kurtz; she joined a 20-month old brother, Curtis; sister Elta May was born 3-years later; by then, the family had moved to Estherville. IA. Seven-months after giving birth, her mother, Elta L., died following a botched operation. Fritz moved his young family to a rented Brookings County farm near his family. Knowing he was unable to care for an infant while farming, Fritz transferred custody of Elta to her maternal Grandparents living in Elkton. Curtis (5) and Doreen (3) moved with him to a house on the farm; it had no running water or electricity.
The extended family in the vicinity assisted in rearing her. Doreen attended her first two years of primary school in Brookings, where Curtis and she boarded with their paternal grandparents. Doreen’s lot improved in 1929 when Fritz married Florence Newton. Florence and Fred had an additional six children.
During high-school, she attended freshman year in Brookings, sophomore year in Elkton and her final two years in White, since the family had moved to a farm north of White.
In the fall of 1940, she attended General Beadle Teachers College (Normal School) in Madison, SD, with a loan from her father and by working for room and board. By March 1941, she had a contract to teach a one-room country school 7-miles from White, at age 19, taught 12-children in all eight grades for a salary of $48 per month for the nine-month school year.
The first year she taught included a degree of romance and intrigue. At that time, a school teacher could not be married! She, however, had eloped across the MN line, on July 5, 1941, with Irvin J. Smith; after their marriage both continued to live with their parents so she could continue teaching. That ploy worked until they purchased a house in Brookings for $800 in the spring of 1942; they then had to tell their parents. She moved to Brookings with Irv and his widowed Mother for the balance of the year. She was asked to teach the next year and had 17 students.
As WW II had started in December 1941, Irv was swept into the Marines in late 1943. After he completed boot camp, Doreen went to San Diego to be with him until he shipped out for Guam in May 1944. Tips from being the officers’ barber enabled him to send an extra $30 per month to supplement her $30 allotment; this was needed as Doreen was pregnant. Their son, Douglas, was born in Brookings by caesarean in November 1944; Irv did not see his son until December 1945.
After the War, Irv had various jobs in area small towns, including working in creameries and a phone company. Their daughter, Sherry, was born in November 1946, completing the little family. In late 1951, they acquired a retail dairy store in Pierre, SD, living above the business. The first spring, the business was inundated when the Missouri River flooded.
In 1955, Irv took a position at a dairy in Denver, CO; Doreen then enrolled in Denver University. Within six-months, Irv was offered the plant manager position at a creamery in La Junta. They moved; within a year the creamery closed. He then got a job with the Santa Fe Railroad, where he stayed for 24-years, and also became the pro at the local golf course.
Teacher certification requirements had evolved since her time in Normal School, so she obtained a BA at Adams State College in Alamosa in 1960. With that degree, La Junta hired her to teach first grade, she also taught special education for 15-years and finally kindergarten her final 17-years. She retired in 1986. During this time, she completed a MA program at Colorado State College in Greeley.
Doreen and Irv celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 1991; sadly he died in December 1992. She remained in La Junta until April 2011, when she moved to Greeley, CO. to be near her son & daughter while living independently, being active in her local Methodist Church and taking writing classes, the basis for her 2015 memoir, “From the Puhr Farm”, which she completed at age 93.
Doreen B Smith, died July 11, 2024, at the age of 102. Survivors include daughter Sherry, grandchildren: Dale and Shand Ross, Becky (Ross) Brindle, and Jason and Damon Smith; seven great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren: and siblings Wallace Kurtz of Rocky Ford, CO and Leslie Ferris of Boynton Beach, FL. She was preceded in death by her husband, son Douglas, granddaughter Mary Kay Ross and siblings Curtis, Fred, William, and Kendall Kurtz, Elta Woodard, and Jo Ann Meyer.
