Henry Albert Smith

Henry was born and raised in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina, where his parents, Otts and Essie Smith, farmed and lived a self-sufficient life. He was the second of their six children, and the eldest son of five boys and a girl. Henry graduated from Cranberry High School in 1947 as Valedictorian of his class. He joined the United States Air Force shortly afterwards and expected to be sent to the Korean Conflict. Instead, he was assigned to a support role at Warren AFB in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and then to Eglin AFB in Okaloosa County, Florida. While at Eglin he went home with a friend for the weekend, and there, on a blind date over a stolen watermelon, met the love of his life, Marilyn Lynn. Henry and Marilyn were married shortly afterwards. He mustered out of the Air Force as a Master Sergeant and immediately joined the Civil Service, resuming work at Eglin as a sheet metal technician. During the next decades of his career he earned many awards for his innovative ideas that saved money and streamlined procedures. In 1979 Henry was invited to cross-transfer into the Army Corps of Engineers at Hurlburt Field. From there he was sent to Israel to supervise civilian contracts during construction of Ovda Air Base, one of the bases built as part of the agreements negotiated by the 1978 Camp David Accords. He and Marilyn lived in a remote site in the Negev Desert during that time.

Henry closed out his career by supervising civilian contracts for the Corps of Engineers in Saudi Arabia during construction of King Khalid Military City. Once again, Henry and Marilyn lived in a remote desert location, where strict Muslim law required Marilyn to dress in a full length “abaya” and keep her head covered in public. Upon his retirement, Henry and Marilyn began renovation work on a Queen Anne Victorian home in Mobile. A labor of love that took more than ten years to complete, the home became a center of celebrations for their many friends and family.

Henry is survived by his wife of 72 years, Marilyn, and their daughter, LouAnn Morehouse (Robin). He was predeceased by his daughter, Lisa Candace, and her husband, Steven Cox. He was the proud grandfather of Jamiey Odin (Russell), Sara Gurley (Scott), Caitlin Morehouse (Jeff Jenkins) and Lucas Morehouse (Amanda) and great-grandfather of Nicolas Gurley and Sylvie and Felix Morehouse.