ABOUT MARY
Mary Russell
Simms, born with a serious hearing impairment, is the great
granddaughter of
William Franklin [Frank] Smith and Sarah Frances Buchanan Smith
who figure
prominently in both Potpourri books as well as the Smith Family
Curse
book. Mary is the granddaughter of Thomas Alvin Smith and
Nora Olive
Jones Smith, and daughter of Doyle Russell and Frances J.
Smith Russell.
Because of her severe hearing loss, Mary has spent over
four years
researching the cause of her handicap. The Smith Family
Curse tells the
facts that were uncovered during that search. The
2008 Smith Clan
Potpourri as well as the 2011 Smith Clan Potpourri are spin offs
of the
original Smith Family Curse book.
Dozens of
personal interviews were necessary to compile the hearing loss
information. Most members of the Smith Clan had lost touch
with each
other many years ago. These family interviews sparked the
desire to
re-connect with other family members---and the Smith Clan
Reunion idea was
created. So far there have been three large family
reunions held near the
old Smith Clan ancestral homesteads located in Noble Oklahoma
and in Moffat
County Colorado. Mary serves as Smith Clan Reunion
coordinator and plans
a fourth Smith Clan reunion in Oklahoma in 2013.
Mary lives in
Lexington, South Carolina, near her son David, his wife Faye,
and her two
grandsons, Tyler and Cole Simms. She also has
a second son, Randy Raasch, who makes his home in North
Dakota with his
wife, Vivian, and their three children---Zack, Jen, and
Jess.