Richard W Smith

RICHARD WAITE "DICK"SMITH was born November 23, 1922, in Cedar Falls, Iowa, the son of John Lester and Esther (Waite) Smith.  He was a 1940 graduate of Cedar Falls High School and attended Iowa State Teachers College, now UNI. Dick served with the U.S. Army Air Corps as a left gunner, on a B-29 in the 73rd Bomb wing on Saipan, during W.W. II. He married Marilyn Hoffer on July 31, 1943 at Chanute Field, Rantoul, Illinois. Dick received his Industrial Engineering degree in 1949 from Iowa State College, now Iowa State University. He was manager of the Manufacturing Engineering Dept. with the Viking Pump Company in Cedar Falls, retiring in 1985 after 37 years of service. Dick died Saturday, November 11, 2000, at the Cedar Falls Western Home.

Dick served on several committees, including the Waterloo Technical Society. He was chairman of the Central Iowa Section of the Mechanical Engineering Society, and was chairman of the Industrial Development Committee of the Cedar Falls Chamber of Commerce. Dick served as the chairman of the AMVETS Board and was a member of the Lions Club. He was a founding member of "The Saints" Dixieland Band, and was co-founder of the Sturgis Falls Dixieland Jazz Festival, managing it for 11 years. Dick served for more than 20 years with the St. Vincent de Paul Society with St. Patrick Catholic Church, and was a former Sertoma Man of the Year.

He is survived by his wife Marilyn, of Cedar Falls; two sons, Michael John Smith and his wife Kerstine of Sartell, Minnesota, and David Waite Smith and his wife Dawn of Allison, Iowa; a daughter, Lore Ann Mick and her husband Jeffrey of Waverly, Iowa; nine grandchildren and a sister, E. Jean Finnell and her husband Marvin of Pueblo, Colorado.  Dick was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorial services were 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, November 15, 2000, at St. Patrick Catholic Church, with burial at Greenwood Cemetery, both in Cedar Falls.  Military committal rites were conducted by Cedar Falls AMVETS Post 49.   Memorials may be directed to Cedar Valley Hospice or St. Patrick Catholic Church.