T Dan Smith widow dies at 99
Reporter THE wife of former Newcastle City Council leader T Dan Smith has died at the age of 99.
Ada Smith was married to the notorious North East politician from 1939 until his death in 1993, after which she moved down to Hampshire to be nearer one of her daughters.
Following her death on Tuesday night, seven months before her 100th birthday, Ada’s son Cliff has paid tribute to a “warm, supportive” woman who was the family’s rock.
Cliff, 61, said his mum was responsible for pulling the family unit together during “very dark times”, when Smith was jailed for six years in 1974 for his part in the Poulson corruption scandal.
Born in November 1918, Ada grew up in Gateshead as one of three siblings.
She married the charismatic future council leader in 1939, at the age of 21.
“They met at a dance, the classic way for couples in those days,” Cliff said.
“My father came through the door and bashed straight into my mother. That’s where it all started.”
The pair had three children – Jillian, now 70 and living in America, Jocelyn, 66 and Cliff.
While Smith rose through the ranks in Newcastle’s Labour Party, being elected leader in 1959, Ada kept the home and family running smoothly.
Cliff said: “She ran the home side of things while my father was busy and away an awful lot.
“She kept everything going while he was away doing whatever he had to do.”
Thrust into the role of a politician’s wife, Ada remained “incredibly supportive”.
“She was political, although not necessarily actively, and she would support my father in everything he did.
“Mum wasn’t well educated in terms of schooling, but she was incredibly well read and a master of the English language.
“She used to help my father write his speeches. I remember her reading them and she would say ‘You can’t say that, that doesn’t make sense.’”
The family’s darkest hour came in 1974 when Smith was handed a six-year prison sentence, of which he served three years, for his role in the Poulson affair.
The corruption scandal had seen architect John Poulson pay out for lucrative council building contracts.
Cliff described how Ada “coped very well” during those “tough times”.
“The family unit remained very close throughout. We were a loving family and really pulled together.
“All my life my mother has been like a rock and I always felt very safe when I was with her.”
When Thomas died in 1993, Ada moved to Hampshire to be nearer her second daughter Jocelyn.
Although the funeral date has yet to be arranged, Ada’s children will be fulfilling their parents’ wishes of taking both sets of ashes to the Lake District where they can be scattered together.
Cliff said: “That was where they did a lot of their courting and where they went on their honeymoon, so that was their wish.
“No matter what happened, we were always very close and I loved them both dearly.”