Shirley Mae Smith

Shirley Mae (Balog) Smith of Natrona Heights, after 93½ well-lived years, passed away Thursday, July 3, 2025. She was never at a loss for words, and could turn the most minute detail into an hour-long phone conversation or an ongoing description of birds and deer in her backyard, the exploits of kids in the neighborhood, or the latest on her kids and grand kids. Shirley had an amazing memory and was the repository of our family history. She often shared her recollections  people and events from throughout her life, expecting that her kids would know or remember all the background and context and fill in the blanks. Shirley Smith was born in Lyndora, PA on November 12, 1931, the only child of George Balog and Mary (Bugra) Balog. Her father was a roller in the finishing mill at Armco Steel in Butler, and her mother a homemaker. Shirley was raised and remained a life long Roman Catholic, but also regularly attended services in the Greek Orthodox and Russian Orthodox churches in Lyndora. She also made welcoming space in her life for her family members who were Jewish and Buddhist: quite an eclectic group. Shirley was a proud member of and played bugle in the Butler Catholic Daughters of America Drum and Bugle Corps. She graduated in 1949 from Butler High School, and while she never attended college, she was well read, inquisitive, and always engaged with politics and current events. And she managed this while being one of the few remaining people to have neither cable, internet, nor a smart phone. Following high school, she worked as an executive secretary to the training manager and to the plant manager at Armco, and continued to use her shorthand, typing, and organizing skills throughout her life.

As was society’s norm in the 1950s, when Shirley married high school science teacher Fred Smith in 1957, she left her job at Armco. She didn’t work outside the home again until 1979, when she became an assistant librarian at the Community Library of Allegheny Valley in Tarentum. She retired from the library in 1992. Shirley and Fred moved to Natrona Heights in 1959, and she developed friendships with multiple generations of neighbors over her 66 years on Oak Manor Drive. One of her great pleasures was a daily walk, first with her husband Fred (for his health, of course), and then with her close friend and neighbor Julie Klemens. These walks would often stretch in duration, as she had to stop and chat with whoever was out in their yard.

In addition to her parents, Shirley was preceded in death by her her beloved husband and partner in everything Fred Smith in 2010, her stepmother Helen (Hrip) Balog, stepsister Winnifred McGee, and grandson Christopher Smith.

Surviving Shirley are her son Fred Smith (Deborah Brodsky) of Boulder, Colorado, son Michael Smith of Worthington, daughter Maribeth Smith (Jackie Goor) of San Diego, California, daughter Amy Himmel (Brian) of Fox Chapel, and stepbrother Richard Hrip of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. She also leaves behind grandsons Scott Smith, Harrison (Kaori) Smith, and Aaron Smith, granddaughters Rachel Himmel, Cara Himmel, and Lauren Himmel, and great grandson Kazuto Smith.

She will also be missed by those many close neighbors and friends from Oak Manor Drive, some of whom have adopted her as GG or Miss Shirley.

Friends will be received on Thursday, July 10, 2025 from 5-8 p.m. in the Cicholski-Zidek Funeral Home, Inc.,1522 Carlisle Street, Natrona Heights 724-224-8688.  Funeral service and burial will be held privately.  To send an online condolence please visit www.cicholski-zidekfh.com.

Shirley wished no flowers for her funeral, but instead asked you to please consider a donation to The Sisters of Saint Basil the Great (sistersofstbasil.org), The Little Sisters of the Poor (littlesistersofthepoorpittsburgh.org), or a charity of your choice.