Clara M Smallets

Clara Marie Smallets passed away on January 7, 2023 at Saint Joseph’s Nursing Home in Catonsville, Maryland where she had resided for the past four years.

She was born August 24, 1923 in the coal mining town of Shamokin, Pennsylvania to Slovak immigrants Joseph John Shecora and Margaret Anna Mertzgo.

Clara graduated from Shamokin High School in 1941 and worked for a year in the local millinery industry as a seamstress. In pursuit of a better job, she moved to Washington, DC in 1942, where she first worked as a secretary for the war time Office of Price Administration. At the war’s end she went to work for the Department of State in the Greek, Turkish and Iranian Affairs Section until 1955.

Her future husband, Walter Smallets, moved from Shamokin to Washington, DC to join her at the war’s end. They were married March 22, 1946 at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church.  They relocated to Falls Church, Virginia in 1949, then to College Park, Maryland in 1957 due to Walter’s employer, the National Security Agency, moving to Fort Meade, Maryland.

Clara and Walter and their three children Barbara, Walter, and Sharon moved to Laurel, Maryland in 1964 to be closer to his work. In addition to being a devoted wife and mother, she was active for more than 50 years as a volunteer in support of Resurrection of Our Lord Roman Catholic Church and was a long-time member of the Laurel Senior Friendship Club. Despite her busy schedule, she made time for exquisite sewing and quilting creations for family and friends.

Walter passed away in 2004 and Clara remained an active homemaker devoted to her family. She also was an active church member until 2018 when she moved to the nursing home, where she attended daily Mass in the chapel.

Clara is survived by her children Barbara McCollum (Wally), Walter Smallets (Lorie) and Sharon Palmer (Allan); grandchildren Brian McCollum (Lisa), Michael McCollum (Robin), Christopher McCollum (Vivian), Sarah Palmer O’Neill (Joseph), and Jessica Palmer; and great grandchildren Matthew McCollum, Lauren McCollum, Addison McCollum, and Natalie McCollum.

She was predeceased by siblings Bernard, Margaret, Alma, Josephine, Francis, and Joseph.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Saint Joseph’s Nursing Home, 1222 Tugwell Drive, Catonsville, Maryland.