Paul G Smith

Paul G. Smith and Harriet R. Smith were laid to rest April 3, 2015 in Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon, CA. Harriet R. Smith died in 2006. Paul G. Smith, Maj. U.S. Air Force, ret., passed away February 17, 2015 in Longmont, CO at age 93. He was born May 16, 1921 in Fremont, Ohio to Cora B. and Lon L. Smith. At 19 he joined the U.S. Army-Air Force and rode the Queen Mary to serve three years in England during WWII where he was in charge of retrieving and repairing bomb sites as a member of the 8th Air Force.

Before he left the U.S. he met Harriet Ruth Walker in Denver, Co. She wrote to him every day during his absence, and they were married on his return. After a brief hiatus, Paul rejoined the Air Force and was commissioned a 2nd Lt. in 1947. His daughter Corless Smith was born in 1947 as well. During his more than twenty years in the Air Force, Paul was stationed throughout the United States in Texas, Washington, Kansas, Nebraska and Massachusetts. He was also posted to Japan and England, serving as an armament and electronics staff officer for the 92nd and 98th Bombardment Wings and as an Avionics Officer for the 8th Air Force and for Strategic Air Command.

Paul retired from the Air Force in 1964 as a Major and went to MacDonnell-Douglas Aircraft in St. Louis where he worked on the Apollo space program. He had promised his wife Harriet that he would one day take her home, so when he again retired in 1982, he and Harriet moved to Longmont, CO where they enjoyed a life of travel and family get-togethers until Harriet’s death in 2006. Paul was a master craftsman and landscaper who built electronic equipment and finished several basements. He also loved to play golf.

He is survived by his daughter Corless and her husband Henry Waller of Oakland, CA and my many nieces and nephews, especially Betty Hatfield and Dee Durland and two godsons, Christian and Chase LaPointe.