Mary R. Smith died in her Vashon home on July 6, 2004, after a long illness. Loved ones, including dogs, were at her bedside. She was 75 years old.

Mary Frances Ruble was born to Roland O. Ruble and Mildred Rose Ruble on Sept. 24, 1928 in Kansas City, Kansas. The family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico where Mary completed high school.

After graduation from Colorado College, Mary toured Europe, her first of many hosteling adventures. On her return she moved to Bremerton to live with her college roommate, D.A. Stroup. It was in Bremerton that she met and subsequently married Roger M. Smith.

Children followed, Barbara then Roland. The family moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, then Bellingham, and landed on Vashon Island in 1961.

After her children were in school Mary embarked on her first of three careers as a welfare caseworker in Tacoma. Next, she attended the University of Washington. After earning her teaching certificate she taught 6th, 7th and 8th grades at Burton Elementary.

After Roger died in 1970 Mary once again went back to school, this time to University of Puget Sound Law School. She established a private law practice on Vashon, serving the community’s legal needs for the next decade.

Mary was an active member of the Vashon Democratic Club. She attended the Washington State convention as a delegate for Eugene McCarthy. On Vashon she will be remembered as the maker of those killer bean burritos during Strawberry Festival.

As long as her health allowed, Mary traveled at every opportunity. She and her friend Connie DuFresne adventured to Europe, Asia and Australia, sometimes in the company of a third close friend Grace Delano, or some of their assorted children and grandchildren. They snorkeled in warm Pacific waters, rode camels in Alice Springs, and sampled every exotic cuisine that opportunity provided.

Mary served for a number of years as a member of the Vashon Health Center Board. She also volunteered for VIVA, dispensing emergency funds to those in need.

A life-long Girl Scout, Mary was a group leader with her friend Carol Slaughter and many others. Together they led several Island Encampments.

Children with disabilities and those who were deaf were among the hundreds of Island children who hiked, swam, sang and swatted mosquitoes in the woods of Western Washington.

As Mary’s health declined, the community returned her gifts. A rotating team of loving and committed people supported her. Without her caregivers’ hard work and creativity Mary would not have been able to remain in her own home.

Survivors include her brother Roland R. (Skip) Ruble and his wife Betty, her daughter Barbara and partner Lotus, son Roland, grandchildren Amy and Jay, nieces Sharon, Patty and Sandy, nephews Trevor, Zachary, Logan, and Steven, and countless friends and her loyal companions, dogs Wally, Effie and Charlotte.

The community is invited to share in a celebration of Mary’s life on at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 18, at the Vashon Youth Hostel. Potluck offerings of food or drink are welcomed but not required. Gifts may be made in her memory to the Vashon Island High School scholarship fund.