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Birth:          18 May 1922 Chicago, Ill.
Death:          14 Nov 2011 Seattle, Wash.
Cause of Death: Alzheimer's disease

Notes
!PUBL
obit of Palmer Smith
of Seattle
pub rec on ancestry 1939 14th Ave E, Seattle, Wash.

Dorothy "Dottie" SMITH 

 Dottie was born in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Colorado in 
Boulder in 1944. There, she met and married Palmer Smith, an attorney and civil rights 
advocate, with whom she shared a commitment to social justice and a passion for 
adventure. Together, they bicycled through Europe just after WWII, and built a log 
cabin by hand in Wyoming, without the help of electricity or running water. 

 Dottie was a research assistant in the department of government at Harvard 
University, a writer for Science Service, and an assistant to US congressman Jack 
Shelly in Washington D.C. She later served as a regional member of the President's 
Commission on White House Fellowships. After they moved to Seattle in 1954, Dottie 
became a lobbyist at the state legislature for a broad range of social justice and 
welfare issues, as chairwoman of the Council of Planning Affiliates. She was an early 
advocate for fair housing, an active leader with Forward Thrust, board president of 
Planned Parenthood of Seattle-King County, and served on numerous social welfare 
agency boards. She authored a book on public interest lobbying, In Our Own Interest, 
as well as three unpublished novels. 

 Dottie loved to backpack with family and friends in the mountains of the Northwest 
and Wyoming. She and Palmer created a home that welcomed countless friends, 
young and old, some of whom stayed with them for months or years at a time. She 
used her sharp mind and her able hands to create wonderful meals, furniture, and to 
do any imaginable home repair. In her early years in Wyoming, she worked with a 
hunting guide tending foxes and tanning bear hides. She took great joy in her urban 
Seattle and rural Wyoming communities. 

 Dottie developed Alzheimer's in her final years. She often said with pleasure that she 
had had an extraordinary life. She died peacefully at the age of 89, surrounded by 
family. She is survived by her twin sister Marjorie Boetter, her children Jennifer Smith, 
Jared Smith and his wife Karen Daubert, Melissa Smith and her husband Charlie Hale, 
and her grand-children Nathan, Naomi, Audrey, Esther, Amalia and Sofia. 

 A private memorial service will be held in December. 

 Those desiring may choose to make memorial contributions to the Seattle Parks 
Foundation and Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest. 
Seattle Times, The (WA) — Sunday, November 20, 2011 
Wash Death Idx on ancestry
obit of her sister Margaret ("Muggie") Boetter gives parents' names

Parents
BOETTER Carl ()
BENDORF Helen ()

Siblings
BOETTER Dorothy L. (18 May 1922 - 14 Nov 2011)

Marriage To SMITH Palmer (3 Sep 1922 - 11 Feb 2004)
    m.  

Notes

Parents
SMITH Palmer (8 Jun 1891 - 1955)
BAYNES Martha (8 Jul 1898 - 13 Aug 1984)

Children by SMITH Palmer 3 Sep 1922 - 11 Feb 2004
SMITH Melissa ()
SMITH Jared Adams ()
SMITH Jennifer ()

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