Franklin Smith Obituary

Franklin Smith, the father of Durango resident Lois Baumgartner, died Sunday, Dec. 12, 2010, in El Paso, Texas, where he has lived for 20 years. He was 77.

Mr. Smith was born to Devoe and Mabel Budd Smith on July 21, 1933, in Sebring, Fla., and grew up in Adrian, Ga.

He served in the Air Force during the Korean War. When he was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., he met Carrie Fraser while she was working as an air-traffic controller and he was a radar technician repairing their radars. The couple married on May 17, 1955, six weeks after they met.

Mr. Smith retired from General Electric as a quality-control specialist on contract to the Army at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas.

Mr. Smith was a member of the United States Junior Chamber, or Jaycees, in several communities where he lived, including Moab, Utah, Rosman and Brevard, N.C., and Alamagordo, N.M. He was involved in numerous community projects with charities, especially at Christmas.

"Many years we couldn't go to the 'community' Christmas celebrations because then we would have found out our Dad was Santa!" his daughter Cheryl Burbank wrote.

His family said Mr. Smith enjoyed working in the yard and could grow anything. He loved trains, ham radio and music, which he had playing constantly.

Mr. Smith is survived by his wife of 55 years, Carrie Smith, of El Paso; daughters, Lois Baumgartner of Durango and Cheryl Burbank of Albuquerque; sons, Mark Smith of Albuquerque, Daniel Smith of San Antonio, Robert Smith of El Paso and Eric Smith of Mims, Fla.; siblings, Mickey Keene of Oglethorpe, Ga., Edward Smith of Rector, Ark., Annette Tribble of Titusville, Fla., Phyllis Bleckley of Columbus, Ga., and Devoe Smith Jr. and Richard Smith, both of Cochran, Ga.; 14 grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

A graveside service will be held at 1:30 p.m. today, Dec. 17, 2010, at Fort Bliss National Cemetery.