Gertrude Harrison Smith

Born on September 17, 1932, to Queen Esther Davis Harrison and Felder Harrison Sr., during the Great Depression, life in their Harlem tenement was a hardscrabble existence for the family with eight children. The couple, among the first generation of African Americans who left the South during the Great Migration, had 10 children in all, but two (twins, Titus and Sampson) died during infancy.

Like so many Black families escaping Jim Crow, the couple had sought a better life in the North. Work -- laborious work -- was no stranger. Queen Esther worked as a domestic, cleaning homes of wealthy white families, while Felder Sr. eked out a living by chasing down ambulances to get clients for white lawyers.

Tragedy struck the family when Felder Sr. died. Aunt Trudi was five years old. The loss was compounded by poverty, leaving the family with just one income earner and single parent. Her older siblings (brother Lindbergh “Lindy” and sisters, Mary and Esther, “Sis,”) pitched in to help raise the younger siblings. Esther told stories about how Aunt Trudi would raid her meager closet, as the children had just two changes of clothing that meant washing, drying (by hanging out on the fire escape) and ironing every evening after dinner. Aunt Trudi’s brothers called her “Zookie,” because of her middle name, Myzooka or Myzuka. The origins are unknown, but in Japanese, it means, “beautiful moon.”

The chains of poverty didn’t stop Aunt Trudi from flying. And fly, she did.

She was a gifted student in math and music, selected for her high school’s All City Chorus and playing clarinet in band. But her potential was discouraged by a public school system in N.Y. that routinely squashed the hopes and dreams of Black students. Then, Black girls and boys were steered almost exclusively to menial work or nonprofessional jobs. College was not within their reach, they were told. But Aunt Trudi envisioned a very different life and would follow her own path. After graduating from Wadleigh High School, N.Y., opportunity beckoned via the armed forces.

The military was becoming more welcoming to women and African Americans following President Truman’s 1948 Executive Order 9981. The order mandated an end to racial segregation and discrimination in the armed forces. As such, the Korean War (1950-1953) was the first armed conflict since the American Revolution that saw Black and white Americans fighting in the same units. Aunt Trudi would be among the first-to-second wave of Black women who answered the call to serve their country during the Korean War.

She enlisted in 1952 at age 20 as a Basic Airmen, E-1 rank, assigned to Edwards Air Force Base, California. Her race was listed as “Negroid.” She often told how she fought to be listed as a Black woman because of her appearance as a very fair-skinned woman with straight hair that fell in curls, thinner lips, and sharp nose -- features military personnel at that time associated white people.

According to the National Association of Black Military Women, “African American women who volunteered in the military during this period stepped over dual barriers of gender and race to serve their country. . .These pioneering women knew how to press their skills into service for others.”

During the Korean War, there was a push to recruit more women so that volunteer servicewomen could fill the military’s growing need for office workers, so fewer men would be needed to fill those ranks, and thus, be available for combat. Aunt Trudi was among women who filled that need. And by all accounts, she did it with precision, earning accolades along the way.

While assigned to Griffiss Air Force Base in Rome, New York, the Chief of the Accounting Division stated this about Aunt Trudi, “Airman Harrison’s effectiveness in her work is reflected in the accuracy and validity of the records and ledgers she maintains.” Aunt Trudi went on to be selected, “Runner-Up for Airman of the Month.” Those were no small feats for a Black airman in a sea of white airmen. Aunt Trudi served for three years, being honorably discharged May 18, 1955. Later, Aunt Trudi would serve as National Treasurer for the 369th Veterans Association.

Following her military service, she married Garnell Smith Jr., July, 16, 1955. They later were separated. She continued rising. Aunt Trudi used her talents to obtain and master jobs, careers and volunteer public service, serving as secretary to the NAACP National Youth Secretary, and as Secretary in the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She crisscrossed with celebrities as Secretary to Ted Lloyd of Ted Lloyd Associates, producer of “Girl Talk,” and “The Steve Allen Show.”

As an entrepreneur for a short stint, Aunt Trudi and her former husband, ran a pizza parlor that also sold fried chicken.

She continued public service, taking a job with the U.S. Postal Service, rising to a management post in the Data Division and later as a Specialist in the Payroll Retirement Systems Division. During those years, she returned to college and graduated Suma cum laude from Nassau Community College, Garden City, N.Y. and graduating from the Collegiate Business Institute, studying accounting. As a lifelong learner, she also attended State University of New York, Old Westbury, Hofstra University, C.W Post, and Stony Brook. She retired from the government after more than 30 years.

During her life, she lived in N.Y., California, South Carolina, Minnesota, and Texas, spending her last years in Austin, where she moved to be near her sister, Esther, and other family. Indeed, Aunt Trudi followed family from N.Y. to South Carolina to Texas because of her devotion and love of family.

That love was obvious in the many times Aunt Trudi stepped in as a surrogate mom to many family members. Sometimes, she took nieces and nephews who were headed in the wrong direction into her home for months or years, emphasizing protocol, the arts, literature, and education. Other times, she provided her resources to help family members in need. Oftentimes, she served as a confident to nieces and nephews as they matured, always listening, and offering advice without harsh judgment. Time and again, she took nieces and nephews on outings to museums, operas, and other performances.

She was the aunt who provided the extra in extra-curricula activities, teaching her nieces and nephews how to swim, fish and bowl. And she stressed protocol, knowing how to properly set a table, address elders, answer the telephone and speak correct English. Slang was not allowed, though she loosened to some of it in later years. Aunt Trudi was elegant, but also feisty, speaking at times in language peppered with swear words -- for emphasis!

Aunt Trudi was a spiritual woman with a deep belief in God and the Christian faith. It was a pleasure to hear her singing opera, spirituals, gospels, and soul music in a pitch perfect soprano. She had briefly studied opera, but didn’t pursue that career, mostly closed to African Americans. Even so, Aunt Trudi kept singing -- including Happy Birthday songs and popular Johnny Mathis and Sammy Davis Jr. melodies to family -- into her 80s, even as her memory faded.

Forward thinking, Aunt Trudi was a student of art, yoga, classic literature and Black literature. She was a strong believer in civil rights and opinionated in her pro-civil rights politics. She studied astrology and often looked to the moon and stars to guide certain decisions, believing that human beings are connected to a vast universe and its creatures, and as such, in concert with the natural earth. She loved pets, especially dogs who she parented throughout her life. In her younger years, she was a dream reader and interpreter and spent years studying and honing her natural talent.

Aunt Trudi during her life rose from poverty to middle-class, from projects to home ownership. She overcame deep trauma and pain perpetrated against her by strangers. Though it stayed with her, it didn’t break her. She kept rising. She kept soaring. She kept lifting up and inspiring family for three generations until her death on April 30, 2022. We are thankful that family members were with her when she made her transition. Most of all, we are blessed that she lived, walked among us, and left beautiful, lifelong memories -- and footsteps for us to follow.

In her words she penned for her mother’s obituary: “There to meet you at the end of your tunnel” are Elder Felder Harrison Sr., “Mamma,” Mary, Lindy, Georgie, Johnny, Titus, Sampson, Rocky, Esther (Sis) and Felder.

Now Aunt Trudy,

The late sun has sunk fast,

Your race has been run,

Your strongest trials are now all past

Your triumphs have just begun.

A visitation for Gertrude will be held Saturday, May 7, 2022 from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM at Cook-Walden/Capital Parks Funeral Home, 14501 North Interstate 35, Pflugerville, Texas 78660. A funeral service will occur Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 3:00 PM, 14501 North Interstate 35, Pflugerville, Texas 78660. A reception will occur Saturday, May 7, 2022 from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, 14501 North Interstate 35, Pflugerville, Texas 78660.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.cookwaldencapitalparks.com for the Smith family.