Most Mormons have heard of Joseph Smith, but they may not have known this Joe Smith, but he was a good Smith, as they all were and still are. This Joe Smith was born and raised in Nephi, the son of Walter and Emily Elliston. In the 1960's, many locals, especially the high school kids, remember all of the Smiths, as they ran the best tasting bakery shops around, which is kind of close to where the Nephi Café used to be. Joe's wife was Millie, and she had the perfect touch for the lovingly called "burnblacks". In the earlier part of the century, the Duckworth family used to be the bakery kings of Nephi, but we will save that story for another day. Besides Joe, there other Smiths in Nephi, with his sister Margaret Heckle, who may have worked at the bakery too, but not sure, I just remember the name. Joe's Nephite brothers were Paul, James and Read Smith, and in the 1930's, they were the predecessors of the famous Nephi Steele family for being the best shots around. You could throw anything in the air and one of the Smith brothers could shoot it down. Read worked for Thermoid for 35 years and that was after fighting in World War II. Paul was excellent at figuring how to get a jolt of electricity to go from one place to another.
Attached, there should be a photo of Joe, then one of Millie, from a shot with her club. I also put a death notice of Mrs. Elizabeth Smith Ridd. I have no idea who she is, but it was among some of the family stuff, so hope somebody can give me a clue on it as she used to be a Smith. The last photo is not meant to confuse you but to re-connect to how I started this story off. That man is Sam Smith, and we used to work together, and he is the great, great grandson of Hyrum Smith, who was thee brother of the first Joseph Smith. Now that is quite a Smith and Jones story huh.
My mom worked at the Smith Bakery and loved working for and with Joe, Millie, Margaret, and Zelda Blackett. I am sure there were others but these are the ones who were there the longest when mom was. When mom started they told her to eat all she wanted which was awesome because she was not tempted after the first couple weeks. I remember how good the items were and salesmen and anyone who had tasted their various delicious items made many trips back to the bakery whenever going thru Nephi.
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