Growing up and learning in Grinnell, IA

From left to right: Paul James Renfrow (younger brother), Edith Virginia Renfrow, Mercedes Carol Mays (cousin), and in front, Virginia Mays (cousin). c. 1925.

Edith Renfrow as a toddler. 1915, Grinnell, IA. Photo courtesy of the Renfrow Family.

Edith Renfrow Smith is the fifth of six Renfrow children born and raised in Grinnell, Iowa. She grew up in the southwest part of town surrounded by her mother's extended family. Like her siblings, she attended the local public schools. As a teenager, she was an avid athlete. She participated in a wide range of girls' intramural sports and was a member of both the basketball and volleyball teams at Grinnell High School.

Grinnell High School Cardinal Audubon Club, 1931. Courtesy of Gary Waggoner, son of Glenda (McElvania) Waggoner, pictured bottom left.

Edith Renfrow as a member of the Grinnell High School Girls Volleyball team, 1932.