Wadsworth, OH – Dr. Susan Smith Arpad 1937 – 2014
Dr. Susan Smith Arpad died Monday, April 7, 2014, from multiple myeloma, an incurable bone marrow cancer.
She was 76.
Susan was born April 23, 1937, in Wilmington, Delaware, to Montford and Lillian (Eddleston) Smith.
She graduated from Wilmington Friends School in 1955. She received her bachelor’s degree from Smith
College, her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Delaware, concluding her studies in
1974.
After brief history teaching positions at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, and George Mason University
in Fairfax, Virginia, Susan became a professor of popular culture at Bowling Green State University in
1975. In 1982, at the request of Governor Richard Celeste, she founded the first Women’s Studies program
in the state of Ohio, among the first in the nation. In 1986, she became the Chair of the Women’s
Studies Department at California State University, Fresno (CSUF), one of the largest such departments in
the nation.
During her academic career, she published several books and many articles, including Make a Joyful Noise
Unto the Lord: Hymns as a Reflection of Victorian Social Attitudes (1978) and Sam Curd’s Diary: The
Diary of a True Woman (1984), as well as many book reviews in Choice and other journals.
Upon retiring from CSUF in 1999, Susan became very active in Habitat for Humanity in the Central Valley
of California, obtaining federal grants to build farmworker and other low-income family housing. During
this time, she directed the first Habitat for Humanity Women’s Build, where women construct an entire
house with their newly acquired skills. In 2004, upon moving with her husband Joe to Wadsworth, Ohio,
she began another career as a community organizer and volunteer grant writer for local non-profits.
Susan married Dr. Joseph Arpad in 1977. They have two sons, Alexander (Nicole Armstrong), Phoenix, AZ,
and Monty, Mesa, AZ. She is survived by three sisters, Kay Schauer, Palo Alto, CA, Sally Lambert,
Delmar, MD, and Mary Farnell, Seaford, DE, plus many nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Hilliard-Rospert Funeral Home, 174 North Lyman
Street, Wadsworth, Ohio, 44281, and one hour before the funeral service on Friday at 11 a.m. at First
Christian Church, 116 Boyer Street, Wadsworth, with Rev. Jim Singleton officiating.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Susan’s name to First Christian Church and to the Wadsworth
Salvation Army, P. O. Box 300, Wadsworth, Ohio 44282.
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