Michael Price Smith

Michael Price Smith, (75) of Culpeper, VA died July 26, 2016 of complications from Lewy Body Dementia at Madison, VA. A metallurgical engineer for 36 years, Michael was born in St. Louis, Missouri on April 12, 1941 to Roland and Virginia Smith. He grew up in the small “Mayberry type” town of Crystal City, MO. He felt lucky to be raised by loving parents and at a time when kids had a lot of freedom to play and ride bikes. He became an Eagle Scout in 1956 and graduated from Crystal City High School in 1959.

A 1963 graduate of the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy (now MS&T), he worked for three years in nuclear weapons research at Monsanto Research Corporation for the Atomic Energy Commission. In 1966, he joined Pratt & Whitney Aircraft Company of East Hartford, CT (Now United Technologies Corporation) as a Materials Engineer. He earned a master’s degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1973. He specialized in the study, development and application of titanium alloys for aerospace vehicles, such as the Apollo spacecraft, and gas turbine engines for both military and commercial applications. He was the inventor or co-inventor on numerous patents in this area.

Michael enjoyed restoring and driving vintage Fords. After retirement, he and his wife Eleanor moved from Glastonbury CT to Culpeper VA where he continued this hobby and where they together restored a 1905 Victorian house. He also became active in the Culpeper Rotary Club and civic organizations including Culpeper Renaissance for which he regularly helped organize the 4th of July Car and Bike show.

Mike enjoyed traveling with his family and especially touring old battlefields and historical sights. They toured extensively in Europe visiting over 20 countries and more recently, Alaska, Hawaii, and the western US. He traveled through 49 of the 50 states--sorry North Dakota. He also enjoyed cruising on both large and small ships–with the fondest memories of sailing through the Greek islands, in the Alaskan waterways, and along the coasts of New England and Canada.

He is survived by his wife Eleanor (O’Bryan) of Culpeper, VA to whom he was married for 52 years, as well as by daughters Pamela (John Nakahata) and Kathleen (William Pomeranz) of Alexandria, VA and Julia of Phoenix, AZ and granddaughters Eileen and Maura Nakahata and Kira Pomeranz. He also leaves a sister, Patricia Katzenberger (Jay) and family of Festus, MO.

In lieu of flowers, contributions in Michael’s name can be sent to Friends of the Library, Culpeper (271 Southgate Shopping Center, Culpeper, VA 22701) or Rotary International (One Rotary Center, 1560 Sherman Ave.,Evanston, IL 60201-3698).

A memorial service will be held Saturday, September 10, 2016 from 1:00 p.m.-3:00 p.m. at the Clore English Funeral Home, 11190 James Monroe Hwy.,Culpeper, VA. Condolence may be shared at clore-english.com. Clore-English Funeral Home has been entrusted with these arrangements.