Frances Irene (Smith) Taber

Frances Irene (Smith) Taber passed away peacefully with family members singing by her side, in Barnesville, Ohio, on June 21st, 2026. She was born March 2nd, 1930, to Sheldon and Mary (Moore) Smith of the Quaker community in Whittier, Iowa. Her family later moved to Barnesville for a few years and then settled in Middleton, Ohio.

Frances was deeply involved in the Quaker community throughout her life along with her first husband and the father of her children, William P. “Bill” Taber Jr. They made their home in Barnesville and worked at Olney Friends School. They also spent several important years at Pendle Hill, a Quaker study center near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Throughout her life, Frances was a loving and creative mother, homemaker, teacher, writer, cook, and spiritual leader who loved beauty, art, and flowers. 

Frances’s deep concern for ethical simplicity was balanced by her eye for beauty. Her artistic side was expressed through her delicious, nutritious cooking, beautiful floral arrangements, and peaceful home. She gardened, baked, sewed, and helped nurture generations of young seekers after Truth.

After William Taber passed in 2005, Frances married Richard Simon of Barnesville, Ohio, where they spent 20 happy years together with her children and grandchildren nearby.

Frances was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Walter, and her first husband.

She is survived by her husband Richard, daughters Anne Marie Taber (Steve Martin) and Debora Taber (Robert Becerra); grandchildren Jeremy, Timothy, and Daniel Washburn and Marisa, Julian, and Liam Becerra; and one great-grandchild, Alder Ray Davisson Washburn.

Frances’s private burial will be followed by a memorial service that will take place in July, 2026, with a date to be announced. Care is entrusted to Campbell-Plumly-Milburn Funeral Home, 319 North Chestnut Street, Barnesville, Ohio.