Family Celebrates Eldred G. Smith’s 100th Birthday

After the LDS church celebrated Eldred G. Smith’s 100th birthday, January 9, 2007 at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, the Joseph Smith Sr Family celebrated his birthday at the Joseph Smith Sr. Reunion, August 7, 2007. Youth joined adults in time to hear Eldred and Hortense speak in the morning. All attending had the opportunity to see church artifacts from Hyrum Smith–bullet marked clothing, a bullet pierced pocketwatch, and a wooden box from Alvin Smith that had been used to hold the plates of the Book of Mormon.

That evening the family enjoyed a birthday party that included a poem from his wife Hortense–Gifted Hands–and a tribute by retired English professor Richard Cracroft.

The family enjoyed cake from cake decorator Karen Webber who had created 10 cakes, each cake representing one decade of Eldred’s life.

The family concluded the evening by planting a tree for each of the 11 children of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack Smith. Portions of their patriarchal blessings were read for each of the living children; at each tree family members then placed a rock which had been engraved with the child’s name, birth and death year.