Photograph courtesy of Bobby Ardoin, from his collection.
Carola Lillie Hartley
Publisher and Contributing Writer
As we continue the series on the Women of Opelousas, today we share the story of a local nurse who served the Opelousas community for many years. Her name was Marian Rose Smith.
Marian Rose Smith
The daughter of Illinois natives James Smith and Anna Kurtz Smith, Marian Rose was born in DeQueen, Arkansas on December 16, 1916. She was educated in the town’s public school system. Upon graduating from high school in DeQueen, she entered St. Mary’s School of Nursing in Galveston, Texas, where some of her hometown friends were already enrolled and studying.
When she graduated from St. Mary’s in 1938, she came to the Standard Oil Station in St. Landry Parish, below Sunset, where her father had been transferred for his work. She planned to stay awhile and later rejoin her classmates in Texas. Shortly after her arrival in the parish her mother became ill and suddenly passed away. This changed Marian’s plans and she remained in Opelousas to help care for her family.
She immediately began working as a private duty nurse in the St. Landry Parish area. About that time the US became involved in World War II. After Marian’s two brothers Richard James and Wilfred L. Smith volunteered for special branches of the armed services, she joined the Army Nurses Corps. When WWII ended, she was discharged with the rank of 1st Lieutenant.
(See the story of Marian’s brother Wilfred L. Smith, beautifully written by Bobby Ardoin, at this link: https://www.stlandrynow.com/community/veterans-day-salute-highly-decorated-opelousas-veteran-flew-50-missions-in-world-war-ii/)
Returning to Opelousas, Marian resumed doing private duty nursing, and later began working regularly for the St. Landry Clinic on North Market Street, where she was a nursing supervisor for many years. After her younger sister Annette completed her nursing studies, she also joined Marian as part of the nursing staff. Many residents of Opelousas today can still remember the two sisters walking the halls of the old St. Landry Clinic, caring for all who were there. Marian continued to work at the clinic until her death. (After Marian’s death, in August of 1981 the St. Landry Clinic became Doctor’s Hospital of Opelousas, located in the south part of the city.)
Marian Rose Smith devoted her life to the service of her family, her church, and her community. She served as president and held other positions in the St. Landry-Evangeline District Nurses’ Association. She was active in the nurses’ association and often served as a delegate to the group’s National Conventions. She was a member of the American Red Cross, the Inner-Club Council of Opelousas and the V.F.W. Auxiliary. She was also an active member of the Catholic Daughters of America where she held various offices, helping the Doll and Toy Fund for several years. She was a member of the St. Landry Parish Church Council for years and until the time of her death on January 10, 1980.
Funeral services for Marian were held at St. Landry Catholic Church in Opelousas the next evening. She was buried near some other family members in the Todd Mill Cemetery in Todd Mill, Ill.
Marian Rose Smith was a beautiful person, inside and out. Her work in nursing and public service touched the lives of many in the St. Landry Parish area. She led a life of dedication to the care of others. She was always there when anyone needed her.
When Marian died in January of 1980, Gladys L. deVillier, who was the Acadiana Style Editor for the Daily World newspaper at that time, and one of Marian’s closest friends, wrote the following beautiful tribute to this amazing woman: “There is no way that one who lived her life as she did can leave this earth without leaving the essence of herself in an almost tangible way. She was a nurse, but she was much more than that. Even in life, she was a sustainer. She held others up: her patients, their families, the doctors, her friends. She was a nurse who CARED! It was not just a profession with her. She was aunt, daughter, cousin, niece; she embodied all the feminine roles that are possible, except one – that of wife. Without being a wife, however, she yet was a mother, to all of us. She raised her younger brother and sister – her life was one of complete, total dedication to others.”
As a tribute to this special Opelousas/St. Landry nurse, the interdenominational chapel of the new Doctors’ Hospital of Opelousas (now the building that houses Opelousas General Hospital South) was dedicated to her memory in a special ceremony on December 18, 1981. The legacy of this amazing Opelousas woman remains in the halls of that Opelousas hospital building.
Personal note: Marian Rose Smith was one of my mother’s dearest friends. She thought so much of her that when my younger sister was born, my mother named her Rose Marian Lillie in honor of Miss Marian. She was also my sister’s Godmother. I have fond memories of Miss Marian, Miss Annette and their brother Wilfred visiting our family when we lived in Breaux Bridge. They were special people and we always looked forward to their visits.
