Denison Herald
December 5, 1977

DENISON — Services for W. Aubrey Smith, who died early this morning at a local hospital, will be Tuesday at 11 a.m. at his residence, 1200 West Sears, under the direction of Bratcher Funeral Home. Rev. Harrison Lee of the Christ Episcopal Church of Dallas will officiate. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery.
Smith was born in Denison, the son of Mr. and Mrs. E. J. Smith. He was a graduate of Denison Senior High School, Highland Falls Prep School in New York, and Texas A&M. He married the former Clara Blackford.
Smith and his brother started [illegible] Houston Royalty Company for many years and Smith served as Captain in the 36th Division in Machine Gun Corp in World War I. He came back to Denison in 1963 and lived here most of his life.
Smith used to talk about the early days in Denison. As a young man he would go with a lot of the pioneer Denison merchants on hunting trips. He said he served as everything from chief cook to game bearer.
"Game was plentiful in those days," he said. "They would kill quail, ducks, geese and deer on these hunts."
He was one of the early members of the Denison Rod and Gun Club, when it was created and the first meetings were hunts in Colorado. Later the first club house was built at the present site. He continued to be a booster for the Rod and Gun Club all of his life.
Survivors are his wife, Mrs. W. Aubrey Smith; nephew Erwin Smith, New Orleans; niece, Mrs. Nancy Rich, Kerrville; and a half-sister, Mrs. Rose Mary Pearson, Dallas. Pallbearers will be Albert Linden, Jack Berry, Elmer Campbell, Ralph Porter, Jim Stephenson, David Bayless, and Joe Roewe.

Sherman TX Democrat
August 3, 1983

Services for Mrs. Clara Blackford Smith, 90-year-old civic leader who died Tuesday at a Denison hospital, will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church.
Mrs. Smith was born in Denison, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Blackford, and married the late W. Aubrey Smith in Denison.
In the mid-1950s, she established the annual Blackford Memorial Lectures, which are still held at Texoma Medical Center as a memorial to her father.
A former Houston resident, she was a member of the American Cancer Society board of directors and active in social service there. She was a member of the St. Luke's Episcopal Church, Denison Rod and Gun Club, Texoma Medical Center board of directors, Interfirst Bank board of directors, and a director of the North Texas Loan and Trust.
Pallbearers will be Jack Berry, Ralph Porter, Elmer Campbell, Dr. John Saunders, Joe Roewe, David Bayless, Albert Linden, and Jim T. Stephenson.
Memorials may be made to the American Cancer Society or Texoma Medical Center.


Denison TX Herald
August 3, 1983
Clara Blackford Smith Dies in Denison Tuesday

Mrs. Clara Blackford Smith, 90, of 1200 West Sears, who established the Blackford Memorial Lectures held here each year at Texoma Medical Center, died at 9:45 p.m. Tuesday in a local hospital after a long illness.
Funeral will be at 10:30 a.m. tomorrow at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. Rev. Francis D. Raffalovich will officiate and interment will be in Fairview Cemetery under direction of Bratcher Funeral Home.
A native of Denison, Mrs. Smith was born here April 9, 1893, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. L. Blackford. Her father was president of the State National Bank for many years and died here in the mid-1920s.
It was for him that Mrs. Smith organized and funded the Blackford Memorial Lectures which attract speakers from a wide spectrum of interests and supply area physicians and citizens with the best current medical knowledge available.
Mrs. Smith married W. Aubrey Smith, and he died Dec. 5, 1977.
She worked for many years as a volunteer in the health care field, having organized the Harris County Unit of the American Cancer Society in 1947. She also was an active volunteer with the North Grayson County Chapter of the American Cancer Society for many years.
Her contributions have included work at Jefferson Davis Hospital, Ellington Field, and M. D. Anderson Hospital in Houston and Bellevue in New York City.
Locally Mrs. Smith has been a member of the Texoma Medical Center board of Trustees since June 1962 and was active in much of the original planning, decorating and landscaping of the facility.
In 1978 she was named honorary chairman for the $1.5 million Texoma Medical Center Fund Drive.
She also was a member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, the board of directors of InterFirst Bank in Denison, North Texas Loan and Trust, Denison Rod and Gun Club and did social work while living in Houston.
Pallbearers will be Jack Berry, Ralph Porter, Elmer Campbell, John Saunders, MD, Joe Roewe, David Bayless, Albert Linden and Jim T. Stephenson.
Memorials have been suggested to the American Cancer Society or Texoma Medical Center.