DOVER, N.H. – Ruth M. Smalley, 94, widow of former Dover mayor, Frederick C. Smalley and a long-time Dover teacher, died Oct. 26, following a long period of declining health.

Mrs. Smalley, who was the daughter of Harry and Mabel (Priestly) Morrison, was born in Dover, N.H., May 13, 1910. She graduated from Dover High School and Plymouth Normal School. Years later she returned to college and received a bachelor’s degree from Boston University in 1964.

Mrs. Smalley first started teaching in Dover in 1930. Following her marriage in 1934, she resigned, as at that time married teachers were not allowed to continue teaching. In 1954, she returned and was one of the first two special education teachers in the Dover School System. She retired from Woodman Park School in 1977.

Mrs. Smalley was a member of Delta Kappa Gamma Education Society and the Strafford County Retired Teachers Association. She was a 60-year member of the First Parish Church Congregational UCC, where she served three terms on the Board of Deacons, was president of the Mothers of Friendly Clubs and a member of the Women’s Union and the Crafts Group. In earlier years, she was an active member of the Dover Children’s Home. During her teaching career and following her retirement she was an avid traveler.

Mrs. Smalley is survived by two daughters, Carolyn and her husband, Robert Johnson, of Winchester, Mass., and Priscilla and her husband, Lincoln Hayes, of Auburn; six grandchildren, Stephanie and her husband, Adam LaVoie, of Upton, Mass., Erik Johnson and his wife, Josie (Fretwell), of Boise, Idaho, Sonja and her husband, Glen Doherty, of San Diego, Calif., Christopher Hayes, of Toronto, Canada, Lincoln Hayes and his wife, Bibie Wu, of Edina, Minn., and Matthew Hayes and his wife, Emily, of Sudbury, Mass.; five great-grandchildren, Alexandra and Robert LaVoie, Coleman Johnson, Abigail Hayes and Merritt Hayes.

Copy the Story Link