Haywood Clark Smith

Haywood Clark Smith, age 93, died on August 12 after a brief illness at Duke Raleigh Hospital surrounded by family. Haywood was born in Raleigh to Colonel Gordon and Mrs. Edith Clark Smith. The family resided at 3 E. North Street, four blocks from the Capitol. The home was purchased by the State in the 1960, to make way for the construction of office buildings in the neighborhood.

Haywood grew up in Raleigh, and his schooling was almost entirely there. Murphy Elementary was an easy walk from home for kids, but Hugh Morson High required a bicycle. Travel to State College was randomly available -- by thumb. (Children didn't drive cars to school then.) Haywood completed two years of mechanical engineering at N. C. State with grades high enough to qualify him for admission to the U. S. Naval Academy at Annapolis in June 1936 without taking the entrance examination. His two years as a member of Kappa Alpha Order at State probably helped develop the maturity needed for handling the hazing he received his first year at the Academy.

Haywood graduated from the Naval Academy with his class of 1940 on June 6th and was commissioned Ensign in the United States Navy. His first assignment was to the battleship USS Colorado operating out of Pearl Harbor with the Pacific Fleet.

A minor physical problem – myopia (nearsightedness), which prevented his attending flight school -- had caused a condition to be placed on his commission as Ensign: After two years of regular Line duty (at sea), Haywood and 15 other ensigns with similar minor physical problems were to be transferred from the Line to the Naval Supply Corps. The reason for that condition was the escalating war in Europe and the expected need for more officers in the Navy. As with many things, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 changed those transfer plans.

In late November 1941 USS Colorado was performing a high-speed test run at sea near Seattle when one of the four reduction gear sets malfunctioned. That breakdown required a return to drydock for a major repair. The USS West Virginia (sister ship of the Colorado) had already come from Pearl Harbor to take the Colorado's place in that same drydock. Instead the West Virginia had to return to Pearl Harbor. She was hit during the attack by nine Japanese aerial torpedoes on the port side. The USS West Virginia sank that day with many lives lost. Ensign Smith's battle station on the Colorado was in the same engineering spaces where the West Virginia suffered extensive damage.

After that there was no longer any talk of transfer to Supply Corps, and Haywood was promoted from Ensign to Lieutenant (jg), then to Lieutenant during the following year. Normally (that is, in peacetime) promotion to those two grades required 7 years.

Another significant event in Haywood's life around this time was his marriage to Anne Burr, the love of his life. They were engaged at the Ring Dance at Annapolis on May 30, 1939. It was expected to be a long engagement: at the time regulations prohibited midshipmen from marrying until two years after graduation. The Pearl Harbor attack caused that misguided rule to be dropped, but Congress didn't act until April 1, 1942. Anne and Haywood were married April 9 in the Chapel of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, with both sets of parents in attendance. Officiating was Rev. Thomas Wright, Wilmington native and Dean of the Cathedral (and later Bishop of the Eastern Diocese of North Carolina). The honeymoon was brief -- one night and day in San Francisco. The Colorado, with Haywood aboard, departed the next day to rejoin the Pacific Fleet in the Guadalcanal area.

In February 1943 Haywood received orders to be transferred from the USS Colorado to the Bureau of Personnel in Washington. While en route he developed symptoms of what turned out to be tuberculosis. The next month, after beginning his service at Personnel, he was diagnosed, and following treatment at Bethesda Naval Hospital he was sent to Fitzsimmons Army Hospital in Denver. (There was no cure for tuberculosis at the time.) He finally retired from the Navy on disability in 1944.

Following his service Haywood began what became a career in machinery engineering, joining the Development Department of Wright Machinery Company in Durham in 1945. By then Wright had a long history in automatic machinery (cigarette packaging in particular). They produced a line of packaging machines for the snack food industry, which had undergone a conversion from manual packaging to automatic – a revolution dating back to before the war. While working there Haywood was issued a U.S. patent for a system for weight-portioning, delivery, and package closure of potato chips.

Haywood left Wright in 1950 to work for American Machine and Foundry in Raleigh and was responsible for opening a new research and development laboratory there. He was offered a promotion to the head office of AMF in New York City but elected to remain in North Carolina, eventually becoming President of Arjay Equipment Company, a subsidiary of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company. Arjay developed various kinds of machinery for RJR; Haywood marketed them around the world. He worked there until his retirement in 1983.

Almost all his life Haywood was an avid sportsman. He loved boating, fishing and golf. He especially enjoyed going out in his boat with his children and grandchildren. Later in life he developed an interest in painting watercolors.

Haywood also loved people. He was for many years involved with Meals on Wheels and other charitable organizations, serving for a time on the board of the Thompson Home in Charlotte. He was a long time Episcopalian who served in many leadership roles for several different parishes. In his later years he became a devoted member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church.

He was predeceased by his first wife, Anne Burr Smith, and his brothers Gordon Smith Jr. and George Thomas Smith.

He is survived by his sons Haywood Clark Smith Jr. (Sylvia) of Gainesville, FL, and Edward Tremont "Montie" Burr Smith (Leigh) of Raleigh; grandchildren Lisa Catharine Smith of Jacksonville, FL, Christopher Clark Smith (Mara) of Cary, and William and Elizabeth Smith of Raleigh; great-grandchildren Maxwell Haywood Smith and Ella Renee Smith; and his sister-in-law, Sally Liggett Smith.

The funeral will be held at Holy Trinity Anglican Church on Tuesday, August 16 at 2 p.m., with Rev. John Yates officiating. Burial will follow at Oakwood Cemetery. The family will receive friends on Monday from 5 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at 3506 Keats Place, Raleigh.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 879 Washington St., Raleigh, NC 27605.

Arrangements by Brown-Wynne Funeral Home, Saint Mary's St. Raleigh.