Jean Ritter Smith

Barbara Jean Ritter Smith. But never call her Barbara! Jean Smith was born at home in Cook, Washington October 4, 1927, to Clifford Mack Ritter and Clare Eileen Ashby Ritter. Her early childhood was spent there and in Alaska, where her father found work during the Depression. Her fondest memories included the years her family and one other raised salmon on Hugh Smith Lake, southeast of Ketchikan, Alaska. Her companion was Duke, half German Shepard, half wolf, who roamed the woods with her. By 1938 her father had been hired by the Oregon State Fish Commission (now Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, ODF&W) to build a hatchery on Big Creek near Knappa, Oregon. By 1944 Jean had graduated Knappa-Svensen High School and left for Oregon State University. She had excelled in high school—school Valedictorian, year book editor, student body representative. In 1945 her brother William Jon was born and 1947 brought brother Norman Ashby. Although she left OSU her sophomore year to earn tuition money, a blind date in 1946 with a 6’ tall fellow just returned from the Navy caught her attention. Jean and Quentin Edward Smith of Salem, Oregon, married the day after Christmas, 1947. 1949 brought the start of a family and a tax windfall with Celia Jean born in January and Michael Clifford born in December. Quentin began working at the Big Creek Salmon Hatchery, the start of over 40 years with ODF&W as a hatcheryman, then a foreman, and in 1958 as hatchery superintendent. As his job moved the family to 7 hatcheries and 2 of them twice, Jean was the organizer of every move, the one who resettled the family, made school arrangements, made every hatchery house feel like home, and filled their larder with home-grown vegetables from productive gardens. Family teased Jean that one of her main tasks was to take care of Quentin, who managed a multitude of illnesses and injuries for her to deal with. Because hatcheries are located in remote locations, employment outside the home was impossible for Jean. However, in addition to sewing her and Celia’s clothes, she also sewed for neighbors. Her various hobbies included writing light pieces for magazines, copper enamel jewelry, wreath-making, embroidery, and wooden décor pieces. An excellent cook, she self-published and very successfully wholesale marketed a chatty cookbook, “Begged, Borrowed, and Stőllen.” In retirement, Jean became more serious about painting, producing a number of lovely pieces either sold or given away. She sold the products of Quentin’s wood shop along with her own art at craft bazars. They traveled around the state and cross-country in a VW bus or, later, a small 5th wheel, and enjoyed several ocean cruises. Jean and Quentin enjoyed living in four retirement centers, most recently at The Ackerly in Sherwood. Jean died Sunday, May 28, 2023, at 95 years and 8 months, just 5 months after Quentin died in December, 2022.

Jean Ritter Smith

October 4, 1927 - May 28, 2023