CHURCH PIANIST IN TUNE AT 93.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

QUARTZ HILL - At age 93, Dorothy C. Smith is still at the piano keyboard at First Baptist Church of Quartz Hill, providing inspiration as well as music for the congregation.

Despite battling arthritis, she plays twice each Sunday and again on Wednesday night. She and a friend clean the church auditorium every Friday, dusting the pews and putting the hymnals back in their proper place.

``She's an amazing woman. She's a saint. She's just a wonderful lady,'' the church pastor, Audie Yancey, said. ``She fusses at her pastor most of the time. One day she made the remark, 'Pastor, I don't know why anyone listens to you.' I said, 'But Dorothy you listen to me,' and she said, `That's because I love you.'''

To honor Smith, the congregation surprised her on her birthday with cake, gifts, cards and a bouquet of roses after the service last Wednesday.

The pastor had cut the service short, prompting Smith to wonder why he was in a hurry. Then the pastor told everyone to go over to another church building, where Smith had first started playing the piano.

``That's a day I'll never forget,'' Smith said. ``The pastor was going on and on about me. I just hung my head. I was kind of embarrassed.''

Earlier in the day, Smith's granddaughter, Gail Strong, took her to a surprise birthday luncheon with Smith's Bible-study group.

Smith voluntarily gave up driving about a month ago. So friend Judy Dwyer drives her on Friday to clean at the church. The two women work for about 2 1/2 hours and take a break for lunch.

``We just kind of poke around. She does one side; I do the other,'' Smith said. ``We are doing it to serve the Lord. It's his house. That's why we do it. Somebody has to clean.''

Dwyer said of Smith: ``She's my mentor. If I could be half the woman she is, I would have accomplished something.''

Smith was born in Binghamton, N.Y., where her mother taught her to play the piano. ``I picked up the rest by myself. I've always been sorry I didn't go on and follow through,'' Smith said.

She and her husband moved to the Antelope Valley in 1952 to be closer to his family. He worked for Lockheed in the fueling department and once fueled a plane flown by actor Jimmy Stewart.

She worked at Antelope Valley Hospital, first as an attendant, then ``typing up mothers' forms and things like that'' in the obstetrics ward and finally performing clerical duties in administration.

She started playing piano at First Baptist in Quartz Hill in In 1953. Her husband helped build the newer of the two church buildings.

``The Lord called me to do it. When my husband and I moved out here in 1952, we were looking for a church. Something told me to come down here,'' Smith said.

She and her husband retired in 1974 and moved to a small town outside Sacramento. After her husband died, she moved to Hemet in Riverside County, where she lived for 15 years. Four or five years ago, she moved to Palmdale to live with her granddaughter and grandson-in-law, Chris Strong, and their children, Cody, Shane and Skye.

Yancey marvels at Smith's health and energy. She has missed playing only six or seven days since she moved back to the Antelope Valley.

When Smith's son died, she drove herself to the Sunday morning funeral in Idyllwild in Riverside County and then drove back to Quartz Hill so she wouldn't miss the service.

``She's in better shape than I am at 68,'' Yancey said. ``She's been mistaken for my wife three times by visitors. She looks younger than I do.

``You would be amazed at how young she looks. Most people find it hard to believe she's even in her 80s.''

Asked what she attributes her long life to, Smith said, ``I don't drink, I don't smoke, and I don't eat junk food. I guess that just about covers it.''

The slim, bespectacled Smith, went through a bout with cancer and beat it. Smith has a stationary bike and another exercise machine at home.

Smith said the arthritis hampers her a little bit, and her hands hurt, but she will continue playing the piano.

``The church needs a pianist. The church has had one off and on ever since I left. They always say you can't come back, but for some reason God led me back here,'' Smith said.

Karen Maeshiro, [phone]

karen.maeshiro(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) She has arthritis and her hands hurt a bit, but Dorothy Smith, 93, still enjoys playing the piano at First Baptist Church of Quartz Hill.

(3) Dorothy Smith dusts the pulpit at First Baptist Church of Quartz Hill, where she is the pianist.

Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer