Raymond Clarence Smith

Raymond C. Smith, age 95, died Friday, February 26, 2016. Born January 5, 1921, he was one of six children born to Daniel and Gertrude Smith of West Palm Beach, Florida. As a young man, he joined the Navy and was proud to serve his country in World War II. He served as a radioman on the USS Southampton in the Pacific, including the battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

After the war, he continued his government service as a civilian in the US Navy, Bureau of Ships, in Washington, DC. There he met his future wife, the former Henrietta Cope of Mausdale, Pennsylvania. After raising two daughters in Springfield, Virginia, Ray and Henrietta retired to Reedville, Virginia, where they spent many happy years in a peaceful setting on Whays Creek. After losing his beloved wife of 65 years in September 2013, Ray moved to Raleigh. An avid hunter, fisherman, gardener, plant propagator, tinkerer and lifelong learner, Ray pursued an active life until the very end.

Surviving are sisters Mary Stone of Cape Coral, Florida and Martha Dickerson of Pomona, California; daughters Ann Bauckman of Sterling, Virginia and Lynn Swanson with husband Jim of Raleign; granddaughters Erica Bauckman with fiance LJ Outland of Manassas, Virginia, Katie Swanson of Raleigh, and Sarah Swanson of Minoh, Japan; great-granddaughter Jovie Terry of Raleigh; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be held at Providence Baptist Church Saturday, March 5 at 3:00, with visitation with the family at 2:00 at the same location. Subsequent interment will be at Quantico National Cemetery, Quantico, Virginia.

We were blessed to have this gentle, kind, creative, humorous man in our lives.