"Good men must die, but death cannot kill their names."
- Proverb

In the end, the true measure of a man is not the wealth he leaves behind, but the richness of the memories he gave to others. In that respect, Dad was the most successful man we know.

After talking with friends and relatives, and sharing hours of laughter and tears, we have pieced together these most poignant examples of the richness Dad gave to us all.

Perhaps it was from his actions that we learned the most. We always knew he was a child of the depression and a victim of the plight of Oklahoma farm families during the Dust Bowl. However, it wasn't until after the funeral, when we talked to his childhood friend Daniel Cage, that we truly learned what this meant to Dad and his family.

Although Dad talked about living through the "black blizzards," he never gave us details. He always summarized his childhood as "tough, but happy, times." He never once mentioned that he and a brother suffered from severe dust pneumonia as children, an illness that cost his family dearly in medical bills. After the banks foreclosed on his family's farm, Dad and his family moved to California to build a better life. Dad was only 12 years old. Unfortunately, like so many "Okies" at the time, Dad's father (Jacob) could only find work as a laborer on a huge corporate farm. Within a year of reaching California, Grandfather Jacob died in a farm accident, forcing Dad, as oldest, to leave school and take his father's place. Dad's wages put food on the table and even helped to send his brothers, Lawrence and Paul, to school.

As if his childhood hadn't been hardship enough, at the age of 19, Dad became a Naval aviator in World War II, and later in Korea. He'd never talk much about his war duty, but we would often see him shake his head when he watched television coverage of anti-war protests during the Vietnam War. Generally, he would rise from his tattered chair and leave the room saying (more to himself than to the rest of us): "It's a darn shame for those boys in Vietnam. That's what it is. A darn shame."

Dad credits his experience in the Navy with the reason he was later able to form his own engineering firm, Smithson & Associates. He attended college on a GI Bill and studied engineering.

Dad is survived by one brother (Paul) and two sisters (Rachel and Miriam), and preceded in death by brother Lawrence and sister Thelma. It's a tribute to Dad's sense of family that, ever since we can remember, he would write a short but meaningful poem or letter for each brother and sister on their birthdays.

Dad was the most honest man we ever knew. He was a role model as a father, husband, grandfather, brother, church deacon, employer, and friend.

We love and miss him dearly, and look forward to the day when we can all be joined together again.