Bethia Wilcox Smith

November 7, 1925 - January 8, 2023

Bethia Wilcox Smith was born in Declo, Idaho, a small town of 343 residents. With her parents, she moved to Fresno and then to San Francisco in the 1940s.

Bethia attended George Washington High School where she met Robert L. Smith in their senior year. After graduation in 1943, Bethia enrolled at San Francisco City College where she earned her A.A. Degree in 1945 and then enrolled in U. C. Berkeley. Bob enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and was assigned first to Carroll College in Helena, Montana then to U. C. Berkeley where he and Bethia reunited.

Bob and Bethia were married at the Naval Chapel on the Treasure Island Naval Base in 1946. The young couple moved to Boston where Bob received additional training at the Harvard Business School for six months before he was transferred to the Naval Fleet in the Mediterranean. Bethia moved to San Mateo where she soon purchased the family’s first home. When Bob returned home from the War, he went to work for his father-in-law at Wilcox Frozen Foods in San Francisco. What started as a temporary position became his career until he retired.

In their early years of marriage, the family grew with the birth of four children, Rod, Don, Rob and Megan. The young family spent summer vacations at the Lair of the Bear-Camp Gold. In their early forties, Bob and Bethia took up snow skiing and enjoyed spending time in the mountains with family and friends.

Bethia was a huge sports fan. She attended Giants games at Seals Stadium,

Candlestick and Pac Bell Park, 49ers games at Kezar and Candlestick, and Cal Football at Memorial Stadium and Basketball at Haas Pavilion. Her tailgates at Cal games were legendary.

Bethia was never one to sit idly, always having a needlepoint project underway. She was well known for her needlepoint pillows and especially the Christmas stockings she made for her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Bethia lived in the family home in San Mateo until 2021 when she moved into Rhoda Goldman Plaza, in San Francisco. The Smith Family thanks the special staff at Rhoda Goldman for their compassionate care and kindness. The loving assistance provided by Seniors at Home, especially by Rachel, Carmi, Fe and Kina, was essential to Bethia’s final years.

Bethia is survived by her children Rod (Nancy), Don (Lorna), Rob (Terry) and Megan Janis (Michael), five grandchildren and their spouses, and nine great grandchildren. Bethia was laid to rest next to Bob.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the University of California Alumni Association Achievement Award Program.