Calvin C. Smith

Phoenicia-

  Calvin C. Smith, 96, of Phoenicia, NY, died peacefully at home on Monday, May 1, 2023.  He was born December 17, 1926, in Phoenicia, NY, son of the late Raymond and Christine Semler Smith.  He honorably served in the US Navy, seeing action in the Pacific Theatre.   Cal was a graduate of R.P.I. in the Troy, NY class of 1950, with a BS in Electrical Engineering, and he had been an active alumni for many decades.  His professional career in the aerospace industry was in California, where he worked for N.A. Aviation, which then became Rockwell Corp.  He devoted ten years to the B-52 program,  and took several trips to Europe with NATO projects, including serving as the project engineer for modifying navigational systems in the F-111D and F-104's.  He was of an era where  calculations were determined on the slide rule!  He loved the fourteen years he spent working with the US Space Shuttle program, but his proudest memory was of the work he did in deep-water technology, where consequences always meant life or death. 

     Cal found time to give back to his community.  He was a member of the MF Whitney Hose Co., the B.P.O. Elks, and the Phoenicia Rotary, for whom he authored a booklet titled, "How the Phoenicia Rotary Duck Race Came To Be."  He was a two time Rotary Paul Harris Fellow and co-chair of the Duck Race for several years. Cal was an avid reader, especially loving the native history of the Catskills and Hemingway novels.  

     Surviving are his 3 daughters: JoAnn Dunning  of TX, Christine Austin of CA, and Patricia Smith of Phoenicia;  four grandchildren; five great- grandchildren; and Elizabeth Djerf, his special companion.  He was predeceased by his wife Carolyn (Wrixon) in 2000 and son Calvin in 1980.

     Friends will be received at a visitation on Sunday, May 7, 2023, from 2pm to 4pm, at the E. B. Gormley Funeral Home, 87 Main St., Phoenicia. Interment will be held privately at the family plot in the Shandaken Rural Cemetery.  The family suggests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions be made to the M.F. Whitney Hose Co., Phoenicia.  You may share a special memory, photo, or condolence on Cal's Tribute Wall at www.gormleyfuneralhome.com

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