Loretta Inez Dates Shields Smith ’60

Loretta Inez Dates Shields Smith ’60, of York, Pa., formerly of West Baltimore; May 11, of heart failure. She was among the first African American women to attend Pembroke College, as noted in BAM’s September-October 2020 issue Classes section. Upon receiving her bachelor’s degree, her graduation was noted in the Baltimore Sun. She returned to Baltimore after graduating and began her professional career as a Clifton Park Junior High School librarian in the Baltimore City Public School system. She later earned a master’s degree at Goucher College. She met her future husband, Dr. Stewart Smith, on a blind date in 1958, but both went their separate ways. In the 1990s, after both had married and divorced, they were reintroduced, married in 1994, and lived in Pittsburgh. There she became the recording secretary of the Black Association of South Hills and active in Delta Sigma Theta sorority’s local chapter, as well as the Pittsburgh chapter. She later joined the staff of Mount Lebanon Library, from which she retired due to illness. She enjoyed walking, aerobics, and traveling with her husband throughout the Caribbean. She is survived by her husband, Stewart; a brother; niece Karen E. Dates Dunmore ’86; and three nephews.