Letha Mae Smith

Letha Mae Smith, age 87, of Dakota City, IA, passed away on June 25, 2022 at her home surrounded by family. A celebration of life memorial and reception will be at 10:00 am on Friday, July 1, 2022, at River Valley Orchards and Winery located at 1645 220th Street, Humboldt, IA 50548.

Letha Mae Smith was born July 12, 1934 in Olney, Illinois. She was raised by Charles Cokley and Esther (George) Scheidecker. She grew up in Illinois, Michigan and moved to Nashua, Iowa in 1949. In Nashua she met and married Thomas “Tod” Smith in 1951. They raised six children while farming in Nashua and we also owners of the Cedar Cafe until 1973 when they moved to

Dakota City and took ownership of Val’s Cafe, later renaming it Tod’s Cafe. Letha ran Tod’s Café along side her husband until a fire claimed the restaurant in 1997. During retirement they moved to Florida for 5 years before returning to Dakota City. She came out of retirement to work at LifeWorks Community Services, a job she truly loved. Letha enjoyed spending time with family, loved a great joke, and loved to make people smile and laugh.

Letha is survived by her husband of 70 years, Tod; children, Larry (Linda) Smith, Pleasant Hill, IA; Dennis (Vicky) Smith, Dakota City, IA; Cathy Gaydos, Phoenix, AZ; Rick Smith, Dakota City, IA; and numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was proceeded in death by her infant sister, Lelia Cokley; step sister, Virginia Armentrout; son, Thomas Smith; daughter and son-in-law, Shelly and Jerry Ehrhardt; and great granddaughter, Morgan Raether.