Patricia A. Spafford Smith (August 17, 1925December 31, 2002) was an American businesswoman and Democratic politician from Shell Lake,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

Background

Born Patricia A. Spafford in Shell Lake on August 17, 1925, Smith attended Superior State Teachers College (now

University of Wisconsin–Superior The University of Wisconsin–Superior (UW–Superior or UWS) is a public liberal arts university in Superior, Wisconsin. UW–Superior grants associate, bachelor's, master's and specialist's degrees. The university enrolls 2,559 undergraduates ...

) and graduated from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

with a BBA in 1946; she also later attended the Barron County branch, as well as the main campus, of the

University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire The University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire (UW–Eau Claire, UWEC or simply Eau Claire) is a public university in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's and master's degrees. UW–Eau Claire ...

. After graduation, Smith worked as an accountant for the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, and later ran a

school bus A school bus is any type of bus owned, leased, contracted to, or operated by a school or school district. It is regularly used to transport students to and from school or school-related activities, but not including a charter bus or transit bus ...

contracting business (she was on the

board of directors A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

of the Wisconsin School Bus Association). At the time of her first election to public office, she had a record of leadership in organizations including Wisconsin Citizens Concerned for Life, Barron County Sports Center, Barron Co. Health Forum, Barron County Adult

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...

Leaders Association, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, and the Barron County Democratic Party.

Public office

She was first elected to the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

's 75th district in 1978; she won a plurality in a five-way Democratic

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, then defeated

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Glenn A. Johnson, with 8,344 votes to his 7,661. (Previous incumbent Kenneth M. Schricker had died in office.) She was narrowly re-elected in 1980; after a

recount An election recount is a repeat tabulation of votes cast in an election that is used to determine the correctness of an initial count. Recounts will often take place if the initial vote tally during an election is extremely close. Election reco ...

, she had 12,840 votes to 12,671 for Republican Alan Sykes. In 1982, in what was now numbered the 51st district, she had less trouble, polling 8,870 to 7,735 for Republican Ole Severude. In 1984, with the district once again numbered the 75th, she was not a candidate, and was succeeded by fellow Democrat

Mary Hubler Mary Hubler (born July 31, 1952) is an American attorney and Democratic politician. She served 26 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly (1985–2011) representing Barron County Barron County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisco ...

(who had defeated a Patrick T. Smith in the Democratic primary). After she left the Assembly, Smith served on the

Washburn County, Wisconsin Washburn County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is named after Governor Cadwallader C. Washburn. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,623. Its county seat is Shell Lake. The county was created in 1883. Geography Ac ...

Board of Supervisors, the Shell Lake Common Council and served as Mayor of Shell Lake.

Personal life

She married James W. Smith on October 22, 1949; he died in 1969, leaving her a

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died. Terminology The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed ''widowhood''. An archaic term for a widow is "relict," literally "someone left over". This word ...

with six children. She died December 31, 2002. Ten years later, her son Stephen J. Smith (also a business owner and accountant) was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly as a Democrat to represent the same district his mother had represented.Stephen Smith
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Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Patricia Spafford 1925 births 2002 deaths American accountants American women accountants People from Shell Lake, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Superior alumni Carlson School of Management alumni Businesspeople from Wisconsin County supervisors in Wisconsin Wisconsin city council members Mayors of places in Wisconsin Women mayors of places in Wisconsin Women state legislators in Wisconsin Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin State Assembly University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni Women in finance 20th-century American legislators Women city councillors in Wisconsin 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century American businesspeople