President Mary Ellen Wood Smoot, who served as the 13th general president of the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1997 to 2002, died Feb. 10, 2025, at age 91.
Reared in what was then small-town Clearfield, Utah, in northern Utah’s Davis County, Sister Smoot referred to herself as “just a Davis County girl.”
Throughout her Church service, this “Davis County girl” met and ministered to women around the globe and hosted ambassadors, dignitaries and royalty from a variety of countries — sharing love, support and her testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored Church with all.
In addressing the women of the Church for the first time as the newly called Relief Society general president, Sister Smoot said, “The Lord has made known to me the magnificent potential of the membership of this, the Relief Society organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Everywhere she traveled in the world — whether Finland, Idaho, Brazil, Russia or Washington, D.C. — Sister Smoot said she had witnessed the gospel of Jesus Christ in action and the radiant light in the countenances of courageous and faithful sisters. “The Spirit has borne witness to me that we each have been born ‘for such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14).”
To each Latter-day Saint woman — regardless of nationality, race, social or marital status — Sister Smoot said, “Welcome home. The Relief Society is your home, and you are an integral part of a worldwide sisterhood with a divine mission” (October 1997 General Relief Society Meeting, “For Such a Time as This”).
Mary Ellen Wood was born on Aug. 19, 1933, the fifth of six daughters of Melvin and LaVora Smith Wood. As a child, she lived in a small home between the church meetinghouse and her family’s canning factory across the street from the school.
“My life was uncomplicated and centered around home, church, school and the candy aisle in the local store,” she said (BYU devotional, Feb. 10, 1998, “The Superhighway of Life”).
Her father would have his six daughters help plant and harvest potatoes, corn, fruit and flowers and help feed and collect eggs from the hens.
“Life was simple and rewarding,” Sister Smoot recalled. “You worked hard and felt the joy and satisfaction of your accomplishments.”
She met Stanley M. Smoot, the student body president of Davis County High School, in the ninth grade and quickly developed a crush on him (Church News, May 17, 1997, pp. 8, 10). After high school, he served a full-time mission to Hawaii, and she attended Utah State University.
They were married on Oct. 8, 1952, in the Salt Lake Temple. They are the parents of seven children and have 51 grandchildren and 168 great-grandchildren. He died in 2012.
“One of the important things we have done as a family is to set up family values, and one of those is, ‘As an eternal family we build, support and edify one another.’ We believe strongly in that,” Sister Smoot said (Ensign, May 1997).
In 1983, Sister Smoot and her husband were called to serve as the mission leaders of the Ohio Columbus Mission and later the Ohio Akron Mission. The Smoots served on Church public affairs committees for seven years and directed Church Hosting for VIPs from 1993 to 1997.
She was sustained on April 5, 1997, as the Relief Society general president, with Sister Virginia U. Jensen and Sister Sheri L. Dew as counselors.
During her general Church service, she traveled to a long list of countries, striving “to strengthen our sisters spiritually, both individually and collectively.”
During her leadership, the Relief Society participated in international humanitarian efforts, including the collection of more than 100,000 quilts in response to Kosovo refugees’ need for 30,000 quilts in 1999.
Also in 1999, Sister Smoot and her counselors wrote and introduced the Relief Society Declaration in response to nonmembers’ inquiries about Relief Society’s mission.
The declaration states, in part: “As a worldwide sisterhood, we are united in our devotion to Jesus Christ, our Savior and Exemplar. We are women of faith, virtue, vision and charity. … [We] seek spiritual strength by following the promptings of the Holy Ghost. … [We] rejoice in the blessings of the temple, understand our divine destiny and strive for exaltation.”
The Relief Society general presidency also introduced the renaming and refocusing of Relief Society’s homemaking meeting to Home, Family and Personal Enrichment.
In addition to the declaration, Sister Smoot championed the family by being a keynote speaker at the Second World Congress of Families held in Rome, Italy.
“What we do within the walls of our homes far outweighs the things we do outside of them,” she taught in her October 2001 general conference address, “Steadfast and Immovable.”
Through the years, Sister Smoot served in a variety of capacities within the Church — as ward Primary, Young Women and Relief Society president and on the editorial board of The Friend magazine. She served on a Church writing committee, wrote a column for her hometown newspaper and wrote a book on the history of Centerville, Utah.
Sister Smoot also served on the board of the South Davis Community Hospital, was an organizer of the Centerville (Utah) Historical Society and served on the board of the local chapter of the United Way. She was honored as an outstanding citizen of Centerville by the Centerville Rotarians Service Club and received the Exemplary Womanhood Award from the BYU Student Service Association.
One of Sister Smoot’s passions was family history, which she enjoyed sharing with her family. The stories of her pioneer ancestors who were faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ even through “terrible hardships” reminded her of what brings greatest happiness in life, she said.
During her first general conference address, in October 1997, Sister Smoot invited listeners to walk with her in the shoes of pioneers, past and present. “I thank my Father in Heaven for all the pioneers of the past and present who have put aside the things of the world. As we emulate their simple faith and virtues, we will find peace. May we don our pioneer shoes and choose the better part,” she taught.
During an interview on May 20, 2009, with Sister Julie B. Beck, who was then serving as the Relief Society general president, Sister Smoot testified, “The gospel is true. It’s true for all of us; it’s true in all phases of life.”
Funeral services are pending.
