Elwood Smith

BERKELEY TWP. – Elwood C. Smith was born on March 29, 1922 in Scranton, PA. He resided in Levittown, PA and Mansfield, PA for many years before settling in Toms River, NJ as his final earthly home. He passed away in his sleep on Thursday, October 28, 2021 at his home in the Holiday City community of Berkeley in Toms River, NJ. He was 99.

Elwood was an incredibly hard-working man, who passed on his skills as a Stationary Engineer and Waste Water plant operator until the age of 92. First and foremost, Elwood loved the Lord Jesus and loved to tell others of His saving grace. He spent many years in the churches near where he lived serving as deacon, trustee, teacher, handyman, counselor, and just an all-around friend to anyone who needed help. His hobbies were pretty much anything outside: hunting, fishing, camping, gardening, and raising animals of all kinds. If he wasn’t outside, he was inside looking outside at the wildlife especially the birds. When the birds or other animals weren’t around he was watching football or baseball on the TV. Tucked in there in his earlier years was much time spent leading the local volunteer fire fighting company and boycott troop.

A veteran of the US military, Elwood honorably served our country during World War II. He enlisted in the US Navy October 13, 1942 and went to boot camp at Naval Training Center, Bainbridge, MD. He had follow on training as a Machinist’s Mate at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated in the top 10% of the class of 200 men. He received additional training in New York en route to his first duty station on the USS Hailey (DD-556) home-ported in Seattle, WA where he was a plank owner on the newly commissioned ship. He sailed from Seattle in November 1943 to participate in the various Pacific Ocean WWII sea campaigns ending up off of the shores of Japan.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 79 years, Martha Ellen Smith; six children: Elwood (Kathy), Henry (Amber), William (Fran), David (Debbie), Ellen (Arlan), and Sarah (Mike); sister Margie (Bruce), brother Wayne (Peggy); 18 grandchildren; 39 great-grandchildren; and 29 great-great grandchildren.

A graveside service will be held on 4 November, 2021 at 1 pm at the Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, NJ. For more information, or to post a tribute online, please visit www.quinn-hoppingfh.com.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, www.stjude.org.