Frederick C. and Ruth P. Smith Papers

Frederick Coe Smith was born on June 3, 1916, and died on May 16, 2010, in Washington Township, Ohio, at the age of 93. He graduated from Cornell University and the Harvard School of business before marrying Ruth Pfeiffer on October 5, 1940. After graduation he entered the Army Air Corps as a Second Lieutenant in 1941 at the onset of World War II. Smith was assigned to Patterson Field to work on the budget committee during the war. Afterwards he was hired by the Huffman Manufacturing Company as a business manager and was eventually promoted to the position of Chairman of the Board. He retired from Huffy Corporation after 30 years of service in 1976 and devoted the remainder of his life to improving the quality of life for people in the Dayton area.

Frederick C. Smith served as the Chairman of the Board for The Dayton Foundation, Sinclair Community College, and Miami Valley Hospital as well as being the President of the United Way in Dayton. As Chairman of the Board for The Dayton Foundation Smith used his influence to help create and promote several programs for the residents of Montgomery County. These included The Public Education Fund which became the Alliance for Education, Project READ, Neighbor-to-Neighbor, The Dayton Self Sufficiency Program which included the creation of the Montgomery County Job Center, and The Dayton Foundation’s Out-of-School Youth Program. He was honored with several awards during his years in public service including the Citizen of the year in 1985 by the Ohio Association of Social Workers, as well as the National Association of Social Workers. Smith worked hard to help the Dayton Community through improving access to education.

Ruth Pfeiffer Smith was born on May 19, 1916, and passed away on April 14, 2004, at the age of 87 in Centerville, Ohio. She graduated from Wells College in Aurora, New York, in 1938 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Mrs. Smith completed her Master’s degree in International Affairs in 1939 at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Somerville Massachusetts. She then returned to the Packer Collegiate Institute, from which she had graduated in 1936, as a teacher. She married Frederick Coe Smith on October 5, 1940. After arriving in the Dayton area she became an active member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oakwood. She also helped found the Dayton Council on World Affairs, the Miami Valley School in Washington Township, and Planned Parenthood. She was a leading member of several organizations including the Junior League of Dayton and the Dayton Art Institute.