Walter R Smith

Walter Randolph Smith was born in Washington, D.C. in 1938. Aside from three years in Georgia when he was a boy, he lived his entire life in suburban Maryland and Virginia. He graduated from Gonzaga High School (1956) and Georgetown University (1960). He volunteered for military service in the U.S. Army from 1960-1963. Walter believed that every young person should give a few years of service to his country. He excelled at Basic Training and was ordered to helicopter pilot training school and Vietnam, but his eyesight disqualified him and he was sent to Intelligence Training in Washington D.C. While in the Army, Walter wrote and performed in a comedy/political satire group at the Parkside Café on 14th St. in DC. He also performed in The American Light Opera Company and the Washington Theater Club. When his Army career ended, Walt was awarded a scholarship to study in an acting studio in NYC. He delayed that study to care for his expanding family; Christine, Christopher and Adam. He began working at a small insurance company in Chevy Chase, Md. He meant to stay at GEICO for seven years, but nearly 40 years passed before he retired in 2002. For the last sixteen years of his GEICO career, Walter was the Director of Communications. After retirement, Walt picked up his acting career. During his years of acting on stage, in TV and in films, he was a ship’s captain, a Royal Canadian Mounty, a senator, a lawyer a doctor, a pharmacist, an alien, a state delegate, a judge, a treasury secretary—and Batman. Walter met Joyce McCarten in June of 2005. They had a whirlwind romance and were married in April 2006. Joyce introduced Walt to Anglican worship and he renewed his faith in Jesus Christ. His trust in Christ enabled him to experience peace and joy in the years of his battle with MDS and Leukemia. Walter loved God, his wife, his family and friends. We will miss him.