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From: "Vera Reeves" <>
Subject: [ARIZARD] R smith obit
Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2011 06:32:12 -0600
References: <1630569899.5346433.1299125015496.JavaMail.javamailuser@localhost>


Thanks Lorene



> Don Smith
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> By The Wenatchee World Staff
> Wednesday, March 2, 2011
>
> Don Smith, 83, a 60 year resident of Orondo and the Greater Wenatchee
> area, passed away on Tuesday, February 22, 2011, at Highline Care
> Center, surrounded by his family. A kind, gentle and fun loving man, he
> will be greatly missed. Don was born on March 13, 1927, in Cave City,
> AR, to John Ike and Hazel Enid (Felts) Smith, the oldest of eight
> children. In 1945, before graduating from Sidney High School, Don
> enlisted in the Army Air Force and served with the 911th Bomber Group in
> the Philippines. After his honorable discharge in 1947, he returned to
> Arkansas to finish high school, where he drove the school bus his senior
> year. In 1950, he came west with his family to work in the fruit
> orchards to earn extra money for college. But the best laid plans of man
> were altered when he fell in love and married Myrna Payne in Orondo, WA
> on December 1, 1951, where they lived and raised six children. A
> lifelong farmer, he went from raising corn and cotton with mules in
> Arkansas, to growing peaches and apples on an orchard that he purchased
> south of Orondo in 1963, from an employer. The orchard and vacant land
> turned into a true menagerie, always stocked with a vast variety of
> animals. A half acre garden and milk cows helped feed the large family
> and many others. Always sharing, he passed his farming knowledge, work
> ethic and experience to his kids and, through the 4-H program, to a
> multitude of other children. He was a 4-H leader for almost 20 years,
> which was a labor of love. Besides helping kids learn to care for,
> appreciate and exhibit animals, he traveled the West Coast, showing his
> prize winning rabbits.
>
> He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Myrna Smith, at home in East
> Wenatchee; five sons, Bill (Vonnie) Smith and Ken (Debbie) Smith, all of
> East Wenatchee, Don (Gretchen) Smith Jr. of Malaga, Tom (Wendy) Smith of
> Three Lakes and Blake (Mary) Smith of Wenatchee; one daughter, Liz Ann
> (Joe) Rasmussen of Entiat; brothers, Jairl (Bonnie) Smith of Derby, KS
> and Corky Smith of Cave City, AR; sister, Maggie Philpott of Sulphur
> Springs, AR; sister-in-law, Shirley Smith of Cave City, AR; 17
> grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.
> He was preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Glen, Billy and
> Jim; sister-in-law, Pat Smith; one sister, Peggy Williams; and
> brother-in-law, Neal Williams.
>
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