Oneta Smith
Marriages
Gerald Smith
Obituaries
The Daily Sentinel page 7A - May 17, 2023
Oneta was the sixth
of eight children born to
Alvin A. Kite and Cora
Edes Kite in Hollis,
Oklahoma on June 28,
1928. Her youth on a
cotton farm was shaped by
the Great Depression and
World War II.
Oneta graduated from Westview H.S. in 1946 and in
1950 from what was then known as Oklahoma A&M
(now Oklahoma State) with a BA in General Household
Arts. After graduating she worked for two years for the
state of Oklahoma Extension program in Hobart.
In college, she met Darrell Meisenheimer and they
married January 25, 1953. They moved to Trinidad,
Colorado and taught junior high school before moving to
Palisade where Darrel was recruited to teach and coach
football. Five children were born in quick succession.
Letitia in 1954; twins, Brock and Kadette in 1956; and a
second set of twins, Dana and Dane in 1959. She will be
forever remembered as the mother of two sets of twins.
Oneta returned to teaching in 1960 with Dana and
Dane’s kindergarten class at Taylor Elementary. She
moved from Taylor to Fruitvale Elementary and finished
her career at Pomona in 1990. She often said she would
have continued teaching had she known how long she
would live. Colleagues admired her kindness, caring
and commitment to her students plus her welcoming
way with new staff.
After divorcing in the early ’70s, Oneta married
Gerald Smith in 1984. Gerald was a long time
acquaintance who tragically passed away a few short
months after their wedding.
Oneta took up painting after retiring and found a love
of art using a variety of media, mostly pastels. Painting
transported her to another plane. She created many
works of art with a variety of subjects that are cherished
by her family. Oneta did not consider herself an artist
because she had no formal art education however her
work was good enough that a pastel she submitted to
an art show was rejected by the judges because they
thought it was a photograph.
She enjoyed travel and made several trips to Europe
where she never missed a museum, cruised the
Caribbean a couple of times and attended many family
reunions with her children and grandkids in cities and
states all around the US. She played golf and was reputed
to have a decent game. She played many courses around
Colorado, some she said were nothing more than “cow
pastures” however that did not diminish her fun.
She enjoyed coffee and cinnamon rolls at Pufferbelly
with colleagues from Pomona for many years. In 2021,
she moved to assisted living in Denver where she made
new friends, continued to exercise most days and lived
a very independent life, surrounded by many family
members. She was greatly admired for her style and
colorful dress.
She is survived by four children (Brock passed in
2012), six grand children, six great grandchildren and
one sister, Gale Wright.
A remembrance is planned for June 1, 2023, 10 a.m., in
the Garden Room at the historic Redlands Community
Center in Grand Junction.
