Obituaries

Elizabeth "Betsy" Eberhardt

The flier for Elizabeth "Betsy" Eberhardt's memorial service shows her walking down Main Street in Sebastopol's Apple Blossom Parade. Even those who didn't know her name might recognize her familiar figure, smiling brightly, long white hair in a bandana, holding onto a walker, her body bent from osteoporosis and carrying a placard in support of the United Nations.

A longtime peace and justice activist, Eberhardt, 88, died June 20 at her Sebastopol home.

A memorial service will be held Aug. 28 at noon at the Odd Fellows Hall in Santa Rosa, followed by a potluck gathering at her rural Sebastopol home, known as Magic Mountain, now a retreat center.

Eberhardt was most visible as an activist although she worked throughout her life as an educator.

She taught at Forestville Elementary School and at the American Schools in Milan and New Delhi; trained teachers in Sierra Leone with the Peace Corps; and past retirement age, taught at the Tutoring Center at Santa Rosa Junior College.

A native of Glendale, she married Del Eberhardt, a Methodist minister with whom she had three children. After being divorced in 1950, she went to San Jose State College to get her teaching credential, and worked odd jobs, including picking apricots. She left California with her children to teach in Manchester, England, and in 1965 the family moved to Sonoma County.

She continued to travel, often alone, throughout the world. "She was fearless, often hitchhiking in places not used to seeing an older woman with a long white braid walking briskly along the roadside," said her friend Tanja Bee of Sebastopol.

Even though she had heart problems and suffered a series of small strokes, she remained active in advocating for the United Nations, giving school workshops on the organization and writing letters to the editor on its behalf.

She served on the board of the Sonoma County Chapter for the United Nations for more than 25 years.

"Betsy had a vision of the way the world ought to be, and she never wavered from that. She believed in a more peaceful world. Someone referred to her once as an institution in herself," said her friend Judy Temko.

She belonged to the Sonoma County Taxes for Peace, the Peace and Justice Center, Amnesty International and the Russian River Watershed Project.

She did draft counseling and could boast about being arrested 31 times for demonstrating on everything from anti-nuclear to anti-war. She told people that judges recognized her and would say, "Oh no, not you again" before dismissing her, probably because of her age and infirmities.

Aided by the Redwood Forest Meeting and other Quaker groups, she built a log home on property on Barnett Valley Road outside Sebastopol that she called Magic Mountain. The retreat hosted gatherings of such groups as the the Veterans Viet Nam Restoration Project and Alternatives to Violence Project.

She is survived by her children Jerome Eberhardt of Hawaii and Karen Eberhardt Shelton of England; three grandchildren; and her brother, Frank Newby. Her daughter, Rosemary Moracha, preceeded her in death.

Memorial contributions may be made to the American Friends Service Committee or the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

- Susan Swartz

Matthew Smith

Matthew J. Smith enjoyed all forms of travel. He had a pilot's license and kept his plane at the old Sonoma County Airport on Piner Road in Santa Rosa. At age 9, he drove a covered wagon from Waco, Texas, to California, joining his 13 siblings and other family members along the way.

"Pop also used to ride motorcycles," said his daughter-in-law Siegrid Smith of Santa Rosa. "He loved to ride out in the desert area of Southern California."

Matthew Smith died Aug. 13 in Santa Rosa of heart failure. He was 96.

For more than 50 years, he lived in Forestville, where he was a member of the school board and several agricultural boards. He helped to found the water board and later served as a water board member. He was a member and elder of the Forestville Church of Christ for more than 40 years. He was an apple and chicken rancher until he sold some of his land for the construction of El Molino High School.

"During the 1950s," said his daughter-in-law, "State Fair officials would go to his ranch in Forestville to get the Gravenstein apples that were used in the Sonoma County agricultural exhibit in Sacramento. It was also during that time that he donated his airplane to the federal government because planes were needed for the Korean War. Pop's tractor was used to grade the Forestville Youth Park when it was first built in the early 1960s."

Smith outlived two wives, Irma Covey Smith, to whom he was married 54 years, and Alice Barker Smith, who was his wife for 12 years.

"He loved music," said his daughter-in-law. "He was a member of the Forestville orchestra sometime before 1934. He played the drums and his wife, Irma, played the piano. He also sang in the Smith Family Quartet. They sang at funerals."

Following his retirement from Sonoma State University, where he was supervisor of custodial services, he learned how to use a computer and enjoyed e-mailing missives to friends and family.

His favorite hobby was gardening. He was still working in his garden up to three weeks ago, cultivating squash, potatoes, corn, boysenberries and a myriad of other fruits and vegetables. At one time he was a member of the Cherry Growers Association.

His autobiography, "From Texas to California," remains a family treasure.

He is survived by his two sons, William Smith and Charles Smith, both of Santa Rosa; his daughter, Carol Durfee of Millville; a sister, Naomi Frank of Merced; and many grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

Services were Thursday at Forestville Church of Christ. Arrangements were by Parent-Sorensen Mortuary, Sebastopol.

The family suggests memorial donations to Pacific Christian Academy, P.O. Box 369, Graton, 95444.

- Sheri Graves