Laura Smith

Laura Risher Dossett Smith April 3, 1926 – June 22, 2006 Laura Risher Dossett Smith, fourth generation Wacoan and community leader, died peacefully at home of cancer on, June 22, 2006. A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on June 24, 2006 at St. Paul's Episcopal Church. She was born on April 3, 1926 to Alethea Halbert Sleeper and Walter Brown Dossett. Although she was named for her grandmother, Laura Risher Sleeper, her father nicknamed her Mickey. She was the second of the four Dossett children and grew up surrounded by a large extended family. She was greatly influenced by her grandmother Jennie Brown Dossett who was known for her loving and generous nature. Mickey graduated from Waco High School in 1943 and went to Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia. She also attended the University of Texas where she was a Pi Beta Phi and a Bluebonnet Belle nominee. While in college she was a Hedonia Club debutante and a Duchess at Fiesta in San Antonio. She graduated from Baylor University and on March 6, 1948 married Cullen Smith, whom she first met in junior high. Mickey was a teacher and principal at St. Alban's Episcopal School, and, in 1950 when Cullen graduated from Baylor Law School, they moved to Weslaco. Returning to Waco in 1953, the Smiths became very involved in numerous community activities. Mickey served on the Board of Trustees of McLennan Community College for seven years and was board president in 1978. She also served as a member of the Baylor University College of Arts and Sciences Advisory Council. She was a member of the Junior League and on the board of the Waco Art Center. She was president of the Woman's Club, a member of the Colonial Dames in the State of Texas and a recipient of the YWCA Path Finders Award. She and Cullen were among the founding members of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, where Mickey was one of the first women in the Diocese to be elected to a vestry. Mickey was instrumental in the establishment of the McLennan County Council on Alcoholism and the acquisition of the home for Freeman House. She was active in a Bible Study group for over thirty years. Mickey's love of art led her and her sister Jane Brooks to open Festoon Galleries in 1982, and she enjoyed twenty years as an art dealer. She treasured her friendship with artists Kermit Oliver and Danny Williams. Vanguard College Preparatory School recently honored the Smiths by naming the new art building for them. Mickey was supportive of Cullen's law practice and many years of Texas State Bar and American Bar Association work and enjoyed the friends they made through these and other organizations. She possessed a sharp and inquisitive mind and loved to travel, especially with her grandchildren. The Smiths were involved in the community of Englewood, Tennessee, where they have a farm and helped start the Englewood Textile Museum. In addition to her husband Cullen, she is survived by her children Sallie Chesnutt Smith and Robert P. Wright of Houston, Alethea Risher Smith and Robert G. Gilbert of El Paso, Elizabeth Brient Smith and Stuart Smith of Waco; her grandchildren Payton Cullen Wright and his wife Ashley Peterson Wright, Elizabeth Risher Wright, Laura Patterson Gilbert, and Margaret Sallie Gilbert; her sister Frances Dossett Swann and her husband Thomas Swann, her sister-in-law Mary Martha Dickie Dossett, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her sister Jane Dossett Brooks and her husband J Leigh Brooks, and her brother Walter Brown Dossett, Jr. If desired, memorials may be made to the Waco Art Center, 1300 College Drive, Waco, Texas 76708; The Englewood Textile Museum, P.O. Box 253, Englewood, Tennessee 37329; St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 515 Columbus Avenue, Waco, Texas 76701; or the charity of your choice.