Art Smith

Ancestors

Son of Leon George Smith and Neva Elinor (Knapp) Smith

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Donald W Smith [send private message]

Biography

Arthur Leon Smith was born 19 June 1923 in Flint, Michigan. ^[1] He resided with his parents Leon G Smith and Neva (Knapp) Smith in 1940 in Lake Orion, Michigan where he graduated from High School. ^[2] He passed away on 10 Feb 1997 in Orange County, California ^[3]

Obituary from Lake Orion Review, 26 February 1997 written by his brother Mark W Smith:

Dr. Arthur L. Smith, retired dentist from San Juan Capistrano, died on Feb. 10, 1997. He was 73. He is survived by his children, William of Dana Point, Donald of San Jose, Kerry Jeffrey of Victoville, Peggy Shaddox of Santa Fe; his brothers, Mark of San Jose, Robert of New Mexico, Leonard; his sister, Melissa Mcintyre of Texas.

Dr. Smith graduated from Lake Orion High School

in 1941. He married his high school sweetheart Doris

Bergman.

Notes by son Donald W Smith: Arthur Leon Smith was born in Flint, MI on June 19, 1923, first son of Leon G. Smith and Neva Elinor Knapp. His family moved around the Detroit area quite a few times, including 1930 in Royal Oak and 1935 in Highland Park. He was very good with his hands, crafting multiple (smaller) airplanes from a single balsa wood kit. He and his two younger brothers became quite close and were quite active in pranking other kids in the area.

By 1940, they had moved to the small town of Lake Orion where he attended High School. He was a drummer in the band and became the drum major when he was a senior. His future wife Doris played clarinet in the same band and was one year behind him in school.

When WW II broke out, he joined the Army Air Corp and attended flight training in South Carolina. He and Doris were married on August 21, 1943 while he was in training there. He was deployed to Italy and trained on low-level flight over the Mediterranean Sea on the way to high-altitude bombing missions to Ploesti, Romania. On his first mission, he was co-pilot with a veteran crew on May 31, 1944 over Romania and was in a prison camp there until he was repatriated on Sept. 28, 1944.

His first son Arthur William was born Sept. 2, 1944 while he was in prison camp and thought to be missing in action.

After the war ended, he tried a variety of jobs including selling Steelco pots and pans. He would cook a pot roast dinner to demonstrate the stainless steel pots and pans. I remember the pots and pans from when I was growing up in the 1950s.

He decided to attend college and attended Wayne State University on the GI Bill in pre-Med. He was accepted into the new Dental program at University of Michigan which was funded by the Rackham Foundation which just happened to have his grandfather Mark S Knapp on the board of directors. He graduated Univ. of Michigan Dental school in 1952, the same year his second son Donald Wayne was born.

He started a dental practice in Flint and moved to Los Angeles CA with his family in the summer of 1956. He started his own practice at 8729 La Tijera Blvd in Westchester CA and was very successful. He was a member of the Lions Club, and a Shriner during that time.

He was also an avid model railroader. He maintained his fine motor skills for dentistry by building custom H-O scale steam engines and cars. He erected elaborate 'layouts' in the converted garage complete with working switching yards and multiple tracks. He later joined the Pasadena Model Railroad club and adorned his equipment with his 'Malf Unction Junction' logo.

He and Doris separated in 1960 and he remarried twice: 1) Jackie (maybe two years) 2) Barbara Gene Montgomery 6 Mar 1971 in Las Vegas, NV She had two children from previous marriages that he adopted:

1. Kerry Jo Bentley b. 25 Dec 1956 in Los Angeles, CA
2. Peggy Louise Bacon b. 7 Aug 1963 in Los Angeles, CA

He moved to Orange County about 1972 and continued to practice Dentistry until about 1990 in Dana Point, CA. He was active in fund-raising at Dana Hills High School and ran the Bingo program.

He passed away in 1997 in Dana Point, CA. Smith-209699 15:00, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

Sources

• Paternal and maternal relationships are confirmed by an AncestryDNA test match between Donald W Smith and his first cousin. Their most-recent common ancestors are their grandparents, Leon G Smith and Neva Elinor Knapp. Predicted relationship from AncestryDNA: 1st Cousins, based on sharing 1063 cM across 39 segments; Confidence: Extremely High.

1. ↑ Hiram Smith Genealogy written by Mark Worden Smith (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MH3iivXZrbXsm-NJ_zzzUoBKGwNN3XFm/view?usp=share_link)
2. ↑ "United States Census, 1940", database with images, FamilySearch (ark:/61903/1:1:K4P9-FV5 : Wed Apr 05 04:16:07 UTC 2023), Entry for Robert Smith and Leonard Smith, 1940.
3. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VP3P-NP2 : 26 November 2014), Arthur Leon Smith, 10 Feb 1997; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.

• Donald Smith My first hand recollection, video of him telling WWII story, his family history binder.

"California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch ([1] : 26 November 2014), Arthur Leon Smith, 10 Feb 1997; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.

"United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch ([2] : accessed 19 March 2021), Arthur L Smith in household of Leon G Smith, Royal Oak, Oakland, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 100, sheet 17A, line 22, family 281, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 1019; FHL microfilm 2,340,754.