Carolyn Ardith Smith Treadway

Treadway—Carolyn Ardith Smith Treadway, 88, on July 15, 2022, in Cincinnati, Ohio. She had been residing at Friends Care Community in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Born on September 17, 1933, at Emro Farm near Coal Creek, in Keokuk County, Iowa, Carolyn was the first of four children of Irving and Mary (Emmons) Smith. She married Allen Frank Treadway at Coal Creek (Iowa) Meeting on June 15, 1954. They were married for more than 50 years and raised five children. Allen died on May 19, 2005. Carolyn married Paul Wagner on November 24, 2006, at Yellow Springs (Ohio) Meeting. They were together until Paul’s death on July 25, 2012.

A graduate of Scattergood Friends School near West Branch, Iowa, and of Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., Carolyn had a talent for happiness wherever she was. She took part in bird counts for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. She was an avid gardener and knew about edible wild plants and the best times to pick them. Dandelion leaves joined homegrown lettuce on the family table every spring.

Carolyn was a natural caregiver. She used her gift in many settings: in hospital work, in clerical work at Friends Committee on National Legislation, and in her own growing family. After her children had all started school, she worked as city clerk of Earlham, Iowa, and served on the Scattergood School Committee, where her voice was appreciated as one of calm reason. Friends remember her as a great, kind, strong presence in the world.

Her family is thankful to Tim Morand of Yellow Springs for his kindness to Carolyn in her last years.

Carolyn was preceded in death by her first husband, Allen Treadway, in 2005; second husband, Paul Wagner, in 2012; and two sisters, Evelyn Mavromichalis and Margaret Lacey. She is survived by five children, Daniel Treadway, Brian Treadway (Geraldine Glodek), Dorothy Matthews (Samuel), Jennifer Peters (Vince), and Michael Irving “Irv” Treadway; Paul’s three children, Gordon “Pop” Wagner (Thea), Gary “Bodie” Wagner, and Suzanne Wagner; six grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and a brother, Steven Smith.