Maude Frances Smeath Weight, 98, died Monday, 23 Nov. 1998, of natural causes.
She was born 11 July 1900 in Montpelier, Idaho to James Charles and Frances May Brown Smeath, where she graduated as valedictorian of her high school. She joined the Red Cross as a young woman, lending her time and energy during the great influenza epidemic of 1918. Later, she shared her talents as a USO performer during World War II. Maude married Verne W. Weight in the Salt Lake Temple on 4 June 1924. Both before and after her husband's passing on 15 June 1958, Maude made her home in Los Angeles, California, where she resided for 51 years before moving to Provo, Utah.Maude was a skilled professional woman with broad interests and many friends, both local and international. While in Los Angeles, she was for many years executive secretary to the vice president of Farmers Insurance Co. After her retirement, she served as secretaary to the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel. She was also secretary to the Los Angeles LDS Stake Presidencies for more than 22 years and served in the Los Angeles Temple for over 27 years. She was active in Utah-California Women and in the Los Angeles and Provo chapters of Daughters of the Utah Pioneers. Music was important in Maude's life and she was blessed with an exceptional talent. She studied whistling as an art form and performed in a quartet called "The Mockingbirds," not only with the USO, but on radio and television in the 1940s and 50s.
Maude is survived by her brother, George H. Smeath and his wife, Mary Hawker Smeath. She had no children but was loved and cared for by her many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her sister Mae Smeath Hunter, brothers John H. (Jack) Smeath and Ralph Leslie Smeath, and by two nieces and one nephew.
A memorial service for Maude will be held on Friday, 27 November 1998 at 11 a.m., Evans & Early Mortuary, 574 East 100 South, Salt Lake City. There will be no viewing prior to the service nor graveside service following, as Mrs. Weight will be buried next to her husband Verne in California. Services there will be provided by Pierce Brothers, Cunningham & O'Connor, and interment will be in Valhalla Mausoleum Park, North Hollywood, California.