Maureen Smallwood was born in New York City on November 14, 1934, to James Howell and Elizabeth Wolf Neary. She graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1952 and then attended one year of college at Cornell University. This was followed by six months at the LaSalle Institute for stenotype training.

Maureen joined the workforce in 1953 and was employed by two law firms in New York before accepting a position with AAFES in Tripoli, Libya. In August 1959, she became a member of the US State Department (as an administrative assistant), with her first assignment being Bangkok, Thailand, and in December 1961, she was transferred to Vienna, Austria.

It was in Vienna that Maureen met Bill (William) Smallwood, and they were married on April 20, 1963. During a short stay in Washington, DC, Mom gave birth to her first son, Jim (James Grant), and in April 1964, Maureen and Bill went to their next overseas post in Kabul, Afghanistan. Over the next twenty years, Mom lived as the wife of a Foreign Service Officer with a growing family at posts in Saudi Arabia, Luxembourg, Poland, Washington, DC, the Netherlands, Turkey, and back at Washington, DC, before a final assignment (to their dream post) in Rome, Italy.

Doug (Douglas William) and Tom (Thomas Mark) were both born in Saudi Arabia, and Dan (Daniel Robert) was born in Germany (during the family's stay in Luxembourg). After Bill's retirement in 1984, Mom and Dad bought their home in Lakewood, Washington. Maureen went back to school, got an associate's degree from Pierce College, and joined Faith Homes (Episcopal Services for Youth), where she worked as the office manager until her retirement in 2010.

Maureen was a devoted member of St. Joseph & St. John Episcopal Church in Lakewood from the fall of 1984 and served in numerous positions (to include flower guild, Prayer Chain Leader, and Senior Warden) until her death in June 2025.

Mom and Dad enjoyed sixteen years taking care of their beloved garden and traveling around the United States and in Europe before Dad's death in 2000. After Bill's death, Mom continued to live a very active life, going to Mariner's games, working on the garden, staying active with her church, and taking countless trips and cruises (having traveled to all seven continents and over forty-five countries).

Maureen was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Bill, her son Tom, and her brother Seamus (James Jeffrey). She passed away on June 23, 2025, surrounded by her loving family and is survived by her sons Jim (Patty), Doug (Sandra), and Dan (Tamara); her grandchildren Amber Morris, Andrea and Autumn Wright, Ashley and Aaron Sullivan, Cheyanne, Christian, Robert, and Annaliese Smallwood; and her great-grandchildren Trevon Johnson, Kaylee, McKenna, and Ryder Loran, Aiden and Brielle Anderson, and Kailani Friars.

Services for Maureen Smallwood will be held on August 16, 2025, and all are welcome to any or all as follows:

Funeral Service at 10:30 am, St Joseph & St. John Episcopal Church, 11111 Military Rd SW, Lakewood, WA 98498

Internment at 1200 noon at Old Tacoma Cemetery, 4801 South Tacoma Way, Tacoma, WA 98409

CELEBRATION OF LIFE at 2:00 pm at Seilacoom Community Church, 1603 Rainier St, Seilacoom, WA 98388

**Food will be provided**