Roll Call Tribute

Samuel "Sam" W. Smith
September 11, 1924 – January 16, 2021

Sam passed away peacefully on January 16, 2021 having survived the onset of Cov-19, but ultimately unable to recover from its devastating impacts on his mind and body. Sam’s son, Tim, was at his side; his granddaughter, Mary Ann, located in Dallas, had just ended a call in which she expressed her unending love, and his granddaughter, Samantha, had just loved and hugged him as she departed to resume her college classes out of town. The presence of love surrounded him as he quietly passed into the arms of angels. Sam was a fifth generation Texan. His great, great, grandmother, Mary Langford, received a Spanish land grant from Mexico in 1834, and his family later migrated to Hamilton and Lampasas Counties, which would become a part of Mills County in 1877. Sam was born in 1924 in Goldthwaite, Texas to Amber Langford Smith and Samuel William Smith. Sam had a happy boyhood in Goldthwaite until at age 11 when he lost his father, whom he loved deeply, to a tragic accident. At age 14, he began to take jobs to help support his family. He attended Goldthwaite High School, where he lettered in football, tennis and track for the Goldthwaite Eagles.

Like many of The Greatest Generation, Sam joined the World War II effort following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He first attempted, unsuccessfully, to volunteer at age seventeen. But with his mother’s permission, and having turned 18, he was admitted to service as an Army Air Corps Cadet candidate. Sam went on to fly 24 missions in the European Theater as a B-17 bomber pilot, one for which he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. He would later be awarded the medal of Chevalier (Knight) in the Ordre National de la Légion d’honneur (French Order of the Legion of Honor) in recognition of his contribution to the liberation of German-occupied France. The Legion of Honor, established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802, is the highest French decoration. The medal was presented by the Consul General of France on the Battle Ship Texas. The USS Texas was among Allied warships that shelled German fortifications on the Normandy Coast prior to the D-day Invasion.

After Germany surrendered, he was transferred back to the United States to become a member of a new Air Force in formation for the invasion of Japan. While on leave back home before deployment to Iwo Jima, Sam set eyes on Mary Ann Miller, whom he had known most of his life, but not as he was seeing her in that moment. The two dated each night of his leave, and made plans to marry upon his return from Japan. But when the Air Corps delayed his deployment pending the dropping of “Little Boy” and “Fat Man,” Sam and Mary seized upon the opportunity and married on August 4, 1945. Mary Ann was the love of Sam’s life and they were together for 69 years – until she received Orders for immediate transfer to heaven on November 8, 2014.

When the war ended Sam obtained a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the A&M College of Texas (now Texas A&M University). During his freshman year, in addition to a rigorous class schedule, Sam took a loan, bought a lot and built a house with his own hands (with some help from good friends) for he and Mary Ann to live in during his college days. He noted that his scholastic performance improved after that busy and trying first year.

After graduation, Sam held various chemical engineering positions, including a stint as assistant to chief engineer at the Lone Star Brewery in San Antonio. In February 1954, five years after graduation, Sam and a partner formed Houston-based Pona Engineers, Inc., specializing in hydrocarbon process design and the construction of gas plants, chemical plants and oil refineries. The firm would design and construct 95 plants in the US, Mexico and South America before selling in 1979 to Texas McCan Corp, and ultimately to the Norton Company of Worcester, Massachusetts. He was licensed as a professional engineer in Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, & West Virginia. He was an emeritus member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. He was awarded a certificate from Governor Perry in recognition of 50-years of professional engineering service in Texas.

In retirement he spent time at the family farm in Fredericksburg, Texas improving pastures, water resources and the old turn-of-the-century farmhouse. He experimented with new scientific techniques for growing crops not indigenous to the area and raised livestock and exotic animals, including Charolaise Cattle, Spanish goats, goat crosses, Red deer, Fallow deer, Axis deer and Black Buck antelope. He was voted Conservationist of the Year by the Gillespie County Agricultural Extension Service. Full retirement was cut short as he was retained by a former Venezuelan client to provide engineering consulting, equipment procurement and shipping services on a part-time basis.

At age 80, Sam decided that it was time to cut back on agricultural activities. The Fredericksburg farm was sold to a lovely family, and he and Mary Ann relocated to a more-manageable 40 acres in Kerrville Texas. He continued his consulting work for his Venezuelan client until Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, seized control of the company. Sam consulted for the company principals who fled to Columbia to start anew. Sam finally retired for good in 2016 at age 92.

Throughout his life, Sam was active in community and family affairs. He served as President of the Methodist Men at Westminster Methodist Church in Houston, and as Secretary on the Board of Stewards. He was President of the West Houston Little League and, as an avid hunter and sportsman, he taught the National Rifle Association Hunter Safety course to the youth in his area. Sam was a Texas history buff and spent a handful of years researching, measuring, designing and building a replica of the notable Twin Sisters cannons -- among the most famous artillery in Texas military history that helped win Texas independence from Mexico in the Battle of San Jacinto. He named the cannon “The Other Sister,” and along with his nine-member cannon crew, went to cannon school so that it could be lawfully fired during parades and school demonstrations around the state. When it was determined the cannon was no longer allowed at school demonstrations (it tended to set off too many car alarms), Sam donated the cannon to the Boonville Heritage Park in Bryan, Texas where it is on display and open to visitors.

Sam was elected to knighthood in the Order of San Jacinto, an elite honorary organization establish by Sam Houston in 1843, and the highest honor bestowed upon a member by the Sons of the Republic of Texas in recognition of outstanding service to Texas. He is also an active member of the Sons of the American Revolution, Quiet Birdmen, 8th Air Force Association and the Commemorative Air Force.

An accomplished yet humble man of impeccable character, Sam led an exemplary life and was respected and loved by most who had the opportunity to know him. He was a supportive and loving husband, and an incredible father in every way. He was the eternal optimist whose glass was always half full. To his family, he was not only husband, dad, and grandfather, he was their example, their strength, their teacher, and their rock. Like for many, he was, in a word, their hero. It is fair to say that it will be hard for many to be in a world without him.

He would describe his life with one word repeated three times: “Luck, lucky, lucky.” But he also believed that it would be a joyous day when he was re-united with his wife, Mary Ann. With so many of his friends and family already in Heaven, it is certain that there was one hell of a reception when he arrived. Sam is survived by his son Tim Smith, daughter-in-law Lynn Larson Smith, and granddaughter Samantha Larke Smith, of Austin; granddaughter Mary Ann Webb Nielsen and son-in-law Lars Nielsen of Dallas; and many close nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Samuel William Smith and Amber Langeford Smith, his sister, Lorena Smith Krueger, and his daughter, Andrea Lynn Smith Webb, whose death shattered his heart but not his spirit.

Due to the increasing cases of the Corona Virus, an intimate family graveside service is planned for Goldthwaite, Texas. A memorial service to celebrate Sam’s life is being planned for a future date when it can be assured that the Corona Virus that took his life cannot infect or risk the lives of any gathered friends and family about whom he cared and dearly loved.

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