CAMDEN – Florence Irene (Bishop) Smith, 89, died Sunday, May 20, 2007, of complications from the end stages of Alzheimer’s disease. She departed this world surrounded by love from her daughter and son-in-law at her home. She was born Aug. 9, 1917, in Huntington, Long Island, N.Y., the daughter of Louis Conklin and Margaret (Bosch) Bishop; granddaughter of Louis Conklin and Eveline Carhart (Seely Bishop, and John and Agnes (McGuire) Bosch. She grew up in Huntington, Long Island, N.Y., on Margaret Lane, named for her mother. She graduated from Hunting-ton High School in 1935 and was a member of the ARISTA, National Honor Society. She was a Girl Scout and was very competitive in high school sports and earned the honor of scoring the highest physical fitness index in her high school in 1935, and was captain of her girl’s field hockey team. She attended Methodist Hospital School of Nursing, Brooklyn, N.Y. She received her nursing diploma with honors and obtained her RN in 1938. She married John Eldrid Smith, M.D., of Calais, Jan. 6, 1940, in the Huntington Methodist Church, Huntington, N.Y. They moved to Bangor in the summer of 1940 and it was here that she assisted her husband in the practice of medicine, as office nurse, wife and mother. She resided in Bangor until 1948 and then moved to Kings Park, Long Island, N.Y., where her husband received further education in the field of cardiology. They moved to Bethesda, Md., in 1950 and resided there for more than 30 years before moving to Camden in 1981. In her later years, she supported efforts to gain national recognition for the Maine Indian basket and had gathered one of the largest collections of this art form in Maine. She also enjoyed the mystery of uncovering her family tree of English, Irish and German ancestry. She was proud to learn that she was related to poet, Walt Whitman and enthusiastically learned that her American heritage went back to the original founders of Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut, including ancestors who fought in the Revolution and the Civil War. She loved the state of Maine and enjoyed making trips to it’s many beautiful sites. Her childhood and wartime memories were recorded on tapes 12 years ago and remain a treasured gift she has left to her daughter. Being a proud member of the “greatest generation,” she felt a sincere reverence for the American flag and faithfully displayed it her entire life. At the end of her life, when the dark cloud of Alzheimer’s disease slowly pulled her into a distant silent world, she bore it with dignity and serenity. She was a wonderful mother and mother-in-law, and even though she is now free to be with her friends and family in heaven, she will be missed here on earth forever. She is survived by her daughter, Carol Bishop Smith Fisher and son-in-law, Kenneth P. Fisher Bangor; dear friends, Christina Dean, of Camden and of Bethesda, Md., Clara Neptune Keezer of Pleasant Point, Lillian Fisher, and Harold and Marion Wright, all of Bangor. She was predeceased by her sister, Mildred A. Bishop; and brothers, Norman and Lester John Bishop. Burial was at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor.
1934 Photo
