Kenneth Clyde Smith

Kenneth Clyde Smith died peacefully at the age of 97 at The Leland of Laurel Run in Waynesboro, PA on Thursday, October 12th, 2017.  He is survived by his daughter Kennette C. Soares, three grandsons – Fabricio, Arthur, Carlos - and seven great grandchildren – Tatyana, Caetano, Santiago, Aleksandra, Sofia, Lucca and Vittorio--all of whom miss him dearly. Ken was born on June 22, 1920 in Bishop, CA and resided for much of his life in southern California.  He served as Chief, Motor Machinist in the U.S. Navy, in the Pacific theater during WWII.  He returned home after the war and worked as a mechanic, primarily in the trucking industry.  He went on to establish and become President of the Industrial Steel Tank and Body Works.  Later, he became the Transportation Manager for Safeway Stores, southern California Division.  He moved on to work with the Carnation Company, with a national job focus, as their Assistant Transportation Manager. He was very proud to be a Mason and member of the Al Malaikah for about 65 years. He always had special and fond memories of his time and his work (on weekends and vacations) on his Uncle Jake's almond farm in Ripon, CA.  Taking an early retirement from Carnation to follow his passion, he began producing alfalfa on his San Jacinto, CA farm where he also raised a donkey, cow, sheep, some chickens, dogs and cats.  His next adventure, with his wonderful wife Marilyn, was a move to Cornville, AZ where he acquired another of the loves of his life – Buddy, a much pampered beautiful Arabian horse!  After Marilyn passed away, Ken moved to rural [beautiful Worforsdsburg] PA in 2002 to be closer to his daughter and family.  In his last days he always talked about his good fortune in being able to live in such a great place and having such wonderful friends and neighbors. A celebration of Ken's life will be held at Ebenezer United Methodist Church, Needmore, PA on Monday, October 16th 2017 at 11:00 AM with Pastor Gail Kitchens officiating.  Visitation will be one hour before the service. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the St. Joseph's Indian School, Chamberlain, SD 57326 at www.stjo.org or to the Shriners Children's Hospital – Los Angeles or Sacramento locations (www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org) or 2900 N. Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, FL 33607.