Eleanor McMillan Smith

Eleanor McMillan Smith went Home to be with the Lord on July 1 in Austin, TX. She was 96. Mrs. Smith was born in Durant, Mississippi and spent her childhood in nearby Kosciusko, where her father operated a diner. Upon graduation from high school, she went to Washington as a stenographer in the Pentagon as it was being built. In 1944 she married Capt. Myron B Smith, started a family and moved first to Ohio. She earned a pilot's license there and subsequently moved to Long Island. While living in Elwood, Long Island, she served 18 years on the local school board. She was on this board during the construction of the first high school named after astronaut John Glenn. Mrs. Smith served also on the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, the Nassau-Suffolk School Board Association and the New York State School Board Association. She was elected president of the Nassau-Suffolk Board Association, the first woman to have that position. She also lobbied in Albany for better education. In 1974 Newsday, a Long Island newspaper, compiled a list of "Who Really Runs Long Island". She was one of two women written up in their list. Mr. and Mrs. Smith retired to Manchaca, Texas in 1...[more]

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, where she became active in the United Methodist Church of Manchaca. Mrs. Smith is survived by two of her children, Myron A. Smith and Nancy E. Florance, 11 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren. She is preceded in death by her husband, Myron B. Smith; Jerry Smith, Roy McMillan and two daughters-in-law. She is the last remaining member of the "Greatest Generation" for the extended family. A Celebration of Life will be August 15, 1 p.m. at the Manchaca United Methodist Church in Manchaca, TX. The family is requesting only hypoallergenic flowers, donations to the Manchaca United Methodist Church, the American Cancer Society, or a Christian charity of donor's choice.