Elizabeth "Ding" Wilding-Smith

Elizabeth Wilding-Smith “Ding” passed away peacefully in her home on September 27 at the age of 93, in the company of loving friends. She was a resident of the Linden Ponds Retirement Community and lived in Hingham for over 60 years.

Ding was a long-time member of the Old Ship Church, and will be remembered for her kind heart, her advocacy for justice and peace, her extensive memorized poetry, her straight-talk, and the example she set by carrying on in spite of loss and tragedy.

Ding was born in Nyack, NY to Helen (Bell) and Clinton Fiske Wilding in 1927 and graduated from Wellesley in 1949.  Later in life she went back to school and earned her Master’s Degree in Education from Boston University in 1973, going on to become a beloved school librarian in Boston and Brockton.

While at Linden Ponds she was an active volunteer in the Library, at Rose Court, and on the LPTV channel. She was a constant presence as part of the weekly Peace Vigil in front of the Hingham Post Office.

She was preceded in death by her husband Anson “Bud” Smith, daughter Leslie (Rishell) and son Clint, as well as her sisters Phyllis, Jean, and Ruth, her brother George, and her niece Robin. She is survived by her treasured granddaughter Vanessa Rishell, son-in-law Paul Rishell and his wife Annie Raines, nieces Junie McPherson, Cornelia Luzzi, Polly Henderson, and Page McNeal, nephew Greg Mitchell, many grand nieces and nephews, and dear friends Dyzy Elliott, Judi Flaherty and Brian Geenbaur. She will long live in our hearts.

A service in celebration of Ding's life will be held virtually from the Old Ship Church  

Saturday, November 14, at 11:00.  Friends are warmly invited. 

To attend, please email Rev. Ken Read-Brown for the Zoom link to the service: oldshipkrb@gmail.com. 

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