Robert Smith, Sr.

Obituary of Robert Birdsell Smith, Sr.

Robert B. Smith,Sr., 94, of Summerville entered into eternal rest peacefully Sunday, September 22, 2019 at his residence.  

Robert was born October 4, 1924 in Charleston, S.C., son of the late John Kenneth and Mabel Ferira Smith. Robert is predeceased by his only brother, Kenneth E. Smith. 

                At the young age of 10, he would walk to the Charleston battery to watch ships sailing out of the harbor with a dream that one day, he would travel the world on those ships.  He had the heart of an adventurer and fell in love with the sea.  After the loss of his Father to a motorcycle accident at the age of 12, he delivered Western Union telegrams on his bicycle to help his mother.  As a result of America entering World War II, he was inducted on May 1943 into the US Navy at the young age of 18.  With naval training complete, he was assigned to the USS Mitchell (DE 43) and served in the Asian-Pacific theater until September 1945 at the unconditional surrender of the Japanese armed forces.  As a USS Mitchell crew member, he earned World War II honors to wear 3 Campaign Ribbons, with a total of 9 Battle Stars; for battle actions in the Marianna,  Western Carplines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa Gunto, Leyte Operation, Luzon Operation, Balikpapan, N.E.I. and Strikes against Japan and the Philippines.  He was honorably discharged from the US Navy in January 1946 at which time he pursued his love of the sea by enlisting in the National Maritime Union as a qualified “Able Seaman, Any Waters, Unlimited.”  His sea adventures led him to shipping around the world multiple times visiting various ports of call for almost 20 years.  Still being in the prime of his life upon retirement from the National Maritime Union, he joined the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and worked throughout the United States wherever the work took him.                                

                Robert met and married the love of his life, the late Minnie C. Smith in 1955 and lost in 2005.

He is survived by his son Robert (Smitty) Smith and wife Debbie of Sedona, Arizona, daughter Margaret (Maggie) Griffis and husband Wayne (Red) Griffis of Ladson, SC; grandchildren Kimberly Griffis, Heather Griffis, Joshua Smith, Jeremy Smith; and five great-grandchildren  Ciara, Anthony, Kyleigh, Larrian and Riley.

                

 

In loving Memory of 

Robert B. Smith, Sr.

October 4, 1924 - September 22, 2019

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