Mike T. Smith

27 June 1922 - 30 July 2007

His story in his own words

Mike was born 7 miles northeast of Kenedy Texas to Elmer H. and Nancy Irene Flynt Smith, the 6th of 7 children. His entire youth was spent in a farm environment with plenty of work, lots of hunting, fishing and mischief and all the love there was in the world. His introduction to the school system was a little rocky at the start with more than a few skirmishes to gain the city boys' respect. He rode a horse to school the first two years along with his older brother. High school was taken up with football, baseball, and track with just enough studying to stay eligible for the teams. After graduation, and once the crops were "laid by," Mike went to San Antonio and enlisted in the US Army on 13 August 1940 at Ft. Sam Houston. He rose rapidly in the enlisted ranks and made corporal before he could draw the pay There was a 60 day service requirement. He made Sgt and was sent to Ft Monmouth NJ as an instructor in cryptology and teletype he had received a cram course in these in the Old Quadrangle at Ft Sam. In December 1941 Mike, then a Staff Sergeant was transferred to Camp Crowder MO, where he was Communications Chief of the Western Signal Corps Schools. He was on a train on a delay enroute to his home when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7th. In May 1942, Mike entered Signal Corps OCS at Ft Monmouth to become one of the youngest officers in the military service. At the time he was commissioned, he had completed one year and ten months of enlisted service and had attained the rank of Technical Sergeant. He was assigned to Drew Field FL for training in Radar and Aircraft Control and also took Commando Training in the Tampa, Bradenton, Punta Gorda areas prior to the deployment of his unit to the Pacific in January 1944.

During his stay in Florida, Mike met Ella Faber Berry, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, at the Tampa Yacht Club, and after almost a year of coaxing, persuaded her to marry him. She became, and remained the center of his universe his entire life. The two years that Mike was in the Pacific, seeing action in the Mariana Islands Guam and Ruyukus Ie Shima were very painful to both. Ella was employed as a social worker at the American Red Cross. Two historical events occurred while mike was on Ie Shima. Ernie Pyle was killed on the third day after we came ashore, and the Japanese surrender party landed there to meet with General McArthur's party for the trip to the Philippines where the terms and conditions of the formal surrender of the Japanese Empire were worked out.

Mike returned to the states in late November 1945 and was assigned to the Air Corps by the Redistribution System at Camp Blanding, FL. Mike was given a 90 day rest and recoup leave because of malaria, after which he went to Greensboro and subsequently to Randolph, Goodfellow, Randolph, Security Hill, Ankara, Security Hill, and The Pentagon, where he retired in 1962 with 22 years of service. During the time in the States, he attended college at night with many hours spent at Trinity University, San Antonio College, University of Maryland and the NY Institute of Finance.

His initial employer after retirement as an engineer, was a small company, Applied Technology Inc. ATI located in Palo Alto, CA. Mike was the 20th employee and loved the company because of the hi-tech electronic warfare EW nature of the business. It was almost like still being in the Air Force. Competition was tough and for the first three years it was touch and go to keep the design engineers and the production facility full, but when the first aircraft was shot down in Vietnam, ATI was the only company with on-the-shelf equipment that could solve the problem. Equipment which had been used in the various "Black Aircraft" programs was suddenly available for tactical use. Our company exploded all over the San Francisco Peninsula. An updated version of one of the systems developed, "Wild Weasel" is still flying today. ATI was acquired by ITEK Corp in 1967, when all of the business decisions had to be approved at the Rockefeller Center, it ceased to be fun and Mike became a stockbroker and received his NYSE license in April 1969. With Dow Jones at 630, Mike decided to return to the electronic industry and accepted a position with Watkins-Johnson Company at its plant in Gaithersburg, MD. Two years later he was assigned back to the corporate headquarters in Palo Alto, where he remained until he resigned in 1976 and moved the family back to San Antonio to a home he and Ella had purchased several years earlier. After Watkins-Johnson employment restrictions had expired, Mike accepted a consulting arrangement with Kuras Alterman Corp, a New Jersey firm. After six months, this had turned into a full-time job and in 1978, the firm was acquired by Raytheon Corporation and the San Antonio operation was closed. Mike did not care about moving to New Jersey or to Lexington Massachusetts, and he really retired for a short while until one of his coworkers asked him to start a company and eventually convinced him to do so. COM TRONICS Inc. CTI was born in 1979 and considering the limited capital and tight economy did extremely well with a few proprietary products, and IBM, Fairchild Aircraft, and Warner-Robins as primary customers, the company was able to operate on the generated cash flow and avoid the need to borrow at the inflated interest rates that existed at the time. The Company never had a losing quarter and was liquidated in 1984 because Mike had suffered some small strokes and was advised to change his

lifestyle from a desk and bench seat to one with more time outdoors and lots of exercise, which has proven to be quite beneficial, since ha enjoyed exceptionally good health for the remainder of his life. He was also blessed with his son's assignment to Wilford Hall Medical Center for a period of 4 years while his and Ella's grandchildren, Steve and Kate, were at their cutest ages.

He is survived by his son, Dr. Tim Smith and wife, Dr. Carol Smith of Wadmalaw Island, SC; his daughter, Nancy Smith of AF Village II, San Antonio TX; one grandson, Dr. Steven Smith, University of Virginia Medical School, Charlottesville, VA and his wife, Dr. Tovia Martirosian Smith; one granddaughter, Kathryn Smith, UT Southwestern Medical School, Dallas, TX; nieces and nephews, Kent Smith of Austin TX, Cheryl Smith of New Braunfels, Sandra Zowarka of Pleasanton TX, Burton Burkett and wife, Marty of Alamogordo, NM, Nancy Bieker and husband Richard of Fall City, TX and several grand and great-grand nieces. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a scholarship fund of your choice or to a medical research program of your choosing.