SMITH, Helen

Arizona Silver Belt, Globe, AZ Wednesday, Feb 9th, 2011 Helen Armer Smith passed away peacefully in Globe at Copper Mountain Inn on Feb. 5, 2011. She was born March 29, 1911 at Fort Thomas in the Territory of Arizona to Archibald Frederick and Dora Ann Teel Sanders. In 1912 they moved to Globe where they bought the X4 Ranch north of town from the Griffins. They lost the ranch and moved into town in the early 1920’s. Helen never had the desire to live in the country again as it was a hard and difficult life. Her mother died when she was 18 and she moved in with her sister, Mary, to finish at Globe High School in the Class of 1930. At the age of 19 she went to work for Dr. Walter Franklin when he opened his practice of Dentistry in Globe. She worked for him as dental assistant/office manager for 40 years until his retirement. Helen married her childhood friend, Ben G. Armer, who was a rancher and became Gila County Supervisor for many years. They had two children John and Sharon and were married 31 years when he died in 1967. In 1971 she married Sam Smith who soon retired from Hagen Construction. They were married 28 years until his death in 1999. Helen enjoyed and loved her family and hosted great parties for them and friends where food and entertainment were abundant. She was especially fond of playing canasta with her sisters and Doris Brown. You would often find them at the card table, which was a permanent fixture in her living room, for a quick game during lunch hour. In later years she traveled with Sam in travel trailers and motor homes with friends and family crisscrossing the U.S. and going to Alaska three times. During this period of her life, she just couldn’t sit still and was constantly planning for, packing, traveling, unpacking and cleaning up from a trip. These trips with old and new friends and family brought her much joy. It was during these times that she crocheted with great enthusiasm, making bedspreads and throws for everyone in her family and for babies yet to come. It is not known how she found time for the gardening that she and Sam did but they squeezed it in somewhere. The vegetables and handcrafts she grew and made won many ribbons at the county fair. Helen was preceded in death by her two husbands; her brother, Frank Sanders; her four sisters, Effie Linhoff, Mary Estes, Pearl Miller and Faye Rice; one grandson, Jerry Ausloos, and one great- granddaughter, Mira Ausloos. She is survived by her son, John R. (Claudia Sue Grace) Armer of Globe; daughter, Sharon Ann (James) Ausloos, three grandsons, Jim (Tricia) Ausloos, Justin (Regina) Ausloos and Ben Armer; one granddaughter, Heather Kelton (Chad) Armer-Mullins and eight great-grandchildren, all of the Phoenix Metropolitan area. They will all miss her. Funeral services will be Friday, Feb. 11, 2011 at Lamont Mortuary Chapel, 328 S. Hill Street in Globe. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. with memorial services beginning at 10 a.m. Contributions can be made in honor of her life to Gila County Historical Museum: P.O. Box 2891, Globe, AZ 85502.