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Obituaries

Martha D. Smith | Library assistant, 64

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Martha D. Smith, 64, a retired Philadelphia public schools library assistant, died of cancer Wednesday at Vitas Hospice at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital in Darby. She lived in North Philadelphia.

Born in Philadelphia, she graduated from William Penn High School. Her daughter, Olivia Randolph-Lyons, said she earned a degree in cosmetology and "worked for some time at Strawbridge & Clothier when they had a notions department in the 1970s."

Her daughter said her mother also worked as a seamstress.

Mrs. Smith worked for the schools for more than 20 years, retiring last year as a library assistant at Murrell Dobbins Career and Technical Education High School.

In the mid-1980s, Mrs. Smith began with the school district as a teachers' aide at the Stanton School, where she became president of the Home and School Association.

Mrs. Smith also served as block captain for the 2500 block of North 16th Street for 10 years, her daughter said, until about two years ago.

In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Smith is survived by two sons, Rodney and Derrick; a stepdaughter, Lloyita Earland; and 14 grandchildren. Her husband, Lloyd F. Smith Sr., died in 2003. Stepson Lloyd Jr. died in 1999.

A viewing was set for 9 a.m. today at Oak Grove Baptist Church, 2853 N. 21st St., followed by a 10 a.m. funeral service there. Burial is to be in Northwood Cemetery.