Donald Thomas Smith, 102 years old, died on Thursday, July 24, 2014, at Apple Rehabilitation, Cocomo, in Meriden. He was the husband of the late Alice Larke Smith of Derby.
He was born in Naugatuck on November 12, 1911 to Thomas James Smith and Mary Ann Condon Smith. He was formerly a resident of Derby and Ansonia, and resided in Wallingford since 1987. He was a graduate of Ansonia High School, Class of 1929, and New Haven College. He last worked as an accountant for the B. F. Goodrich Company in Shelton.
He was a skilled sharpshooter and served with the Army Air Corps in the Philippines and New Guinea during World War II and is a veteran of the Battles of Lingayen Bay and Luzon. At age 101, Donald was recognized as the oldest living Army Air Corps veteran.
He was an avid reader with interests in declassified documents relating to the Pacific Campaign of World War II as well as the Irish diaspora of the 19th century.
For the past three years, he had been working on his family genealogy and traced the Smith, Condon, Fitzgerald, Reilly, O’ Neil, and Murphy ancestors back to the late 18th century. He was most proud of the fact that his lifetime and that of his great grandmother, Mary O’Neil Smith (1820 – 1911) spanned the lifetimes of every American President except George Washington.
Two sons and their wives survive him: Thomas and Mary Smith of Wallingford, and William and Joanne Smith of Canandaigua, New York. He also leaves four grandchildren: Eileen Marini (Jeffrey) and William (Christine) of Connecticut, and Scott and Will of New York. He also leaves several nieces and nephews. His sister Doris Smith Carle, and brother Norman P. Smith recently predeceased him.
Friends and family may call at the Jenkins King & Malerba Funeral Home, 12 Franklin Street, Ansonia (www.jenkinskingfh.com) from 2:00 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 27. Please, no young children at the calling hours. The family will meet at the funeral home at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, with the funeral leaving for a Mass of Christian Burial at 9:00 a.m. at St Mary Church in Derby. Burial will follow at Mt. St. Peter Cemetery in Derby.
Memorial donations may be made to REGAP, 15 Fairwood Road, Bethany, CT.
