Robert Smith, our father passed away at 1:50pm on the 5^th of July.  He was 88 years old.  With him at his death was his wife of 69 years, Helen Joyce Smith and both of their children, Karen and Steven Smith.  Dad had been in decline for the last year, spending time in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities until this last week.  His passing was peaceful and calm.

Robert (Bob) Smith was born in San Antonio, Texas when his parents, who were then living in Mexico, came back to Texas to make sure their child was born in America to ensure he was a citizen.  Shortly later the family moved to Llano County and in a few years bought the biggest house in the town of Pontotoc, Texas.  In this town of approximately 200 people, Dad would grow up.  His stories of games he and his friends played reminded me of the short story by O. Henry, “The Ransom of Red Chief.”  It must have been close to perfect for a hell raising boy.  He went to high school at Llano High School where he excelled both in sports and academics.  Anytime I complained about how tough it was to get to school, he would remind me that to go to school, he would ride a horse over to his cousins a few miles away, then ride 100 miles roundtrip on the bus to get to school and back.  Only thing missing was snow.  While at Llano High, he met the love of his life, Helen Dendy who lived about 14 miles away.  After graduation, he went to Tarleton College to play football.  However, fate and Korean War had different plans.  After one year he left to join the Air Force and marry his love, Helen.

After the war Mom and Dad move first to Brady, Texas where Karen was born, then a year later to St. Charles, Missouri where he worked at McDonnell Douglas on the assembly line making fighter jets.  Dad found his life’s calling: planes.  In 1960, the family moved back to Texas to be close to family and settled in San Antonio, Texas where they stayed until 2015.  In San Antonio, Dad worked for several different aviation companies in building prototypes and in research and development.  One-time Dad told me he had to make the tools to do his complete some of his assignments.  Since then, Mom and Dad have lived with their daughter, Karen, and at Treemont Retirement Community.

To try and flesh out Dad a bit, he never met a challenge he didn’t accept, especially if it was him against the world. He took up Judo to test himself, he played semi-pro football, and he paddled canoes all over Texas in races to test himself.  He always had to push, to set new goals, and met them.  He was proud of being the strongest, the most determined, the toughest around.  It was him against the world.  But he was also, despite it all a man who tried to be the best he could be, as a husband, a father, or a friend. Despite all the arguments and fights we had, I always knew that his love for me was always there, no matter what.  He will be missed.

He is survived in life by his wife of 69 years, Helen, his two children Karen and Steven and 5 grandchildren and one great-grandson, Sean.

Graveside service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 09, 2020 at Pontotoc Cemetery in Pontotoc, TX.