George William Smith

George William Smith passed away peacefully on Monday, June 19, 2023 at age 97. George began his extraordinary life on January 24, 1926 in Bronx, New York with his parents George Edward and Ivy Newton Smith.

The Smith Family moved to Tucson, Arizona when George was 12 years old for the health benefits of a warmer, drier climate. His health improved immediately and George, along with younger brother, Kenneth, flourished in the open and uncrowded space of the desert southwest.

Ever on the go, George worked at various jobs after school to help with the family's finances finally securing a position with the Southern Pacific Railroad at age 14, a job he worked at most of his adult life. George enlisted in the Navy during WWII where he served on the General M.M. Patrick, a troop transport, and travelled around the world. When the war ended George returned to Tucson and resumed his position with the Southern Pacific Railroad becoming a Journeyman Machinist, married his sweetheart, Barbara Jean Taylor and welcomed daughter, Susan in 1948. George retired in 1990 from the Owens-Illinois glass plant in Portland, Oregon.

Never one to sit still, and fulfilling a promise he made to himself while serving in the Navy, George bought a plane and learned to fly. Scuba diving was his next adventure followed by the design and building his own sailboat and sailing it along the Pacific Coast to Canada and the San Juan Islands. George's interests then turned to model trains and boats, a hobby he enjoyed with many friends until his death.

George is survived by daughter Susan, son-in-law, Mac Hamilton, grand children Holly Weber, Matthew Hamilton, great-granddaughter, Chelsea Weber, nephew Kenneth Smith, step children and grandchildren from his marriage to second wife, Pearl and numerous friends.

He will be missed.