Page and Eloise Smith
died only one day apart, both of cancer, at their daughter's home in Santa Cruz. They were 77 and 74 respectively. Eloise died on August 26, 1995 and Page, a romantic to the end, joined his wife in the early morning of August 28. They died as they had lived, together.
Deep loss is felt throughout the community the Smiths helped create, then nurtured and fought to maintain. Page and Eloise were a model in their mutual love and devotion, involvement in their community, integrity and honesty to act on their ideals and power to inspire and encourage others. What they gave cannot be measured in words but stands all around us in countless forms--Eloise Pickard Smith Art Gallery and Charles Page Smith Library, UCSC, Spectra Art Program, Cultural Council, William James Association, Penny University, Homeless Shelter and Garden Project, California Prison Arts Program, and many other community and arts programs.
Page and Eloise were married on July 11, 1942. The Smith family moved to Santa Cruz from Los Angeles in 1964.
Eloise Pickard Smith was born in Durham, N.C. August 6, 1921. She studied art in high school with Mary Mason, who influenced her to pursue an art education. She completed her studies at the Art Students League in New York.
Eloise was devoted to her husband and family, enriching their lives with a humor and artistry that touched every aspect of family life. She enjoyed gardening, gourmet cooking, museums and art in any form. She was known for her forthright honesty and biting wit. Her political involvement began with a successful fight to prevent a nuclear power plant in Davenport. After serving on the California Arts Council, she instituted many art programs throughout California, including the California Prison Arts Program which brings high-quality artists into state prisons. In January of this year a 50-year retrospective gave many people their first opportunity to see and appreciate her artwork.
She will be remembered for her uncommon common sense, her class and style.
Page Smith was born on September 6, 1917 in Baltimore, Maryland. He received his B.A. degree from Dartmouth in 1940 and his Ph.D. in American History from Harvard in 1951. During his time in the service he was assigned to the command of the C Company, 10th Mountain Division, and continued contact with its members throughout his life.
Page was a noted historian, an inspirational teacher, an award-winning author and in the words of a former student, "a scholar with a heart." As the founding provost of Cowell College, UCSC's first college, he gathered together the faculty and students that formed the basis of a unique and innovative educational institution. He founded the William James Association, based on the philosophy that community service is the moral equivalent of war. An advocate for the community's homeless, he was instrumental in establishing the Homeless Shelter and the Homeless Garden Project. He is the author of over twenty books, among them a biography of John Adams, The Historian and History, and an eight-volume series, A People's History of the United States. Page loved raising chickens, enjoyed sports events, played tennis, was an avid fly fisherman, and at 60 took up printmaking. Page was well known and loved for his generosity, fierce integrity, high ideals, and gentle spirit.
The Smiths are survived by their four children, Anne Easley and Ellen Davidson of Santa Cruz, Eliot Smith of Portland, Ore. and Carter Smith of Nahant, Mass., seven grandchildren, two great grandchildren and many loving friends.
Over 600 attended the memorial service held on Saturday, September 9, 1995 at 10:30 a.m. at the Calvary Episcopal Church, 532 Center St., Santa Cruz. Private internment was at the Santa Cruz Memorial Park.
Contributions may be made to the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery, Hospice Caring Project or William James Association.
It is a fearful thing to love what death can touch.
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