DELORES E. SMITH, 82, of Aurelia, Iowa passed away Friday morning, December 9, 2011 at her home in Aurelia.

Funeral services will be held Monday, December 12th, at 10:30 a.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Aurelia, Iowa. Pastor Missy Brown will officiate. Burial will be in the Pleasant Hill Cemetery at Aurelia, Iowa. There will be a family prayer service at 10 a.m. at the Church on Monday. Visitation will be from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Sunday at the Boothby Funeral Home in Cherokee with the family present from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Sunday evening. Online condolences may be left at www.boothbyfuneral.com

Delores was born February 18, 1929 on a farm in rural Paullina, Iowa to George N. and Mabel (Mesner) Gottsche. She attended schools in Paullina and Cleghorn, graduating from Cleghorn High School in 1947. She was married to Donald P. Smith on November 21, 1948 at Cleghorn, Iowa. She was Don's hired man in the farming operation. She had resided in the Aurelia area since 1960 and prior to this on a farm south of Cleghorn. She was a member of the Aurelia United Methodist Church, the U.M.W., Church Circle, Birthday Club, the Pals Club and craft club. She enjoyed fishing, bird watching, playing cards, baking and especially time spent with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents, a sister Evanell Thoms and her husband Loran, brothers in law & sisters in law: Loren Schlenger, Milton & Wilma Smith, Marjorie & Roger Parker, Lois & Mac McGowan, Phyllis Smith, Robert Smith and Richard & Mary Lundell.

She is survived by her husband Donald, and her three children: John Smith and his wife Marcia of Aurelia, Iowa; Deborah Engdahl and her husband Dennis of Aurelia, Iowa; Joel Smith and his wife Jeanne Ann of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; 8 grandchildren, Kyle & Melissa Engdahl, Nick & Becky Engdahl, Katie & Eric Gunkelman, Molly Smith and special friend Jeff Stahl, Jill & Rob Byers, Tyson Smith and his fiancé Ashley, Riley Smith & Bailey Smith; 6 great grandchildren; her siblings, Arlene Schlenger of Cherokee, Iowa; George Gottsche and his wife Doris of Meriden, Iowa; Shirley Ann Pedersen and her husband LeRoy of Spirit Lake, Iowa; Anita Jane Hazen and her husband Harold of LeMars, Iowa; brother in law: Francis Smith of Cleghorn, Iowa; three sisters in law: Betty Wykoff and her companion Roger Baker of Mesa, Arizona, Iris (Lyle) Schmillen of Seal Beach, California; Betty Smith of Cherokee, Iowa; also several nieces and nephews.