World War II Chief Clerk under General Bethea (Chief Surgeon Far East Command), Chemical Engineer, Educator, and Administrator for Austin Independent School District
Raymond Leon Smith, 95, of Austin, Texas, passed away on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. Raymond was born on October 12, 1927, in Dewar, Oklahoma. Raymond’s family temporarily moved from Texas to Oklahoma before moving back to Texas. Raymond was the only member of his immediate family to be born in Oklahoma. He was the third child born in a family of eight children. All of his older and younger siblings were born in Texas.
With a strong pride in being a Texan, he often quipped that his "parents must have been ashamed of him for moving to Oklahoma for his birth."
Raymond had a full and varied life. Raymond received his public grade school education in McLean, Texas. At 14, he started boxing, playing football, and working at a pool hall. At midnight, he’d walk home on Route 66, using the center stripe on the road to guide him home, having no natural or artificial light to guide him. He also worked at a gasoline plant with his father, digging holes, shoveling sand and gravel, and carrying concrete in wheelbarrows. He used the money to save for college, going against his parents’ wishes that he stay home and help the family make ends meet.
Incredibly, coming from dire poverty, his keen intelligence allowed him to enter college at the age of 16. He studied mechanical engineering at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. He celebrated his 17th birthday in college and started ROTC. As war broke out across the world, he joined the military as soon as he could be accepted.
He served in the US Army infantry from December 1945 through February 1947. In 1946, he was promoted to serve as Chief Clerk under the Chief Surgeon, Far East Command, General Bethea, in Tokyo. After the war, he was offered the opportunity to become an officer and emissary to General Bethea and continue his career in the military. Raymond declined. Longing to get back to Texas, he received an honorable discharge on February 17, 1947. Back in Texas, in June 1947, Raymond met a woman he considered the most beautiful girl he had ever seen: Patricia E. Taylor. He quickly courted her, and they were married on December 6, 1947, in Kermit, Texas. What followed was life together until Pat’s death. With her beside him for 70 years of marriage, he veered through a faith transformation, continued education, and a multi-faceted career.
Raymond Leon Smith had a faith filled life. He accepted Christ as his Savior on October 16, 1949, and entered the gospel ministry on January 21, 1951. He pastored five small country churches, one city church, and as a captain in the Texas State Guard, he served as a chaplain in 1969. He pastored and preached for 64 years. He retired as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Webberville in 2015.
Raymond’s intellectual life was abundant. On his return from the armed forces, he longed to continue his education. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Hardin Simmons University, Abilene, Texas, in May 1954. He did graduate work at Baylor University in chemistry and biology. Raymond entered the University of Texas Graduate School in 1964 and received a Master of Education degree in August 1970.
Raymond’s career paths reflected his enthusiasm for knowledge, education, and teaching. He was hired as an oil tank builder for Graver Tank Co. and Chicago Bridge and Iron, where he helped build the first 120,000-gallon, 60-foot-high tanks with floating roofs in West Texas. One still stands today, in full use. With his background and interest in mechanical engineering, he was then hired as a draftsman for Sid Richardson Gasoline Company in Kermit, Texas, to help complete a plant under construction. Once in production, he was moved to the laboratory, where he studied and worked as a chemical engineer. He spent 38 years in the public schools of Texas teaching chemistry, science, and English at Spur High School in Spur, Texas, and Lamesa High School in Lamesa, Texas. In Austin, Texas, Raymond taught at Johnston High School, Crockett High School, and Lanier High School. He retired from the teaching profession as an associate principal at Johnston High School in June 1992. He then became certified to teach driver’s education and defensive driving. He continued teaching teenagers to drive until the age of 75.
Raymond was preceded in death by his wife Patricia, his two sons Alan Wayne and Mark Stephen, his parents James Noah Smith Sr. and Lucy Smith, his older sister Edith, his older brother Vergal Ray, and his younger brothers James Noah Smith Jr. and Ronnie Dale Smith.
Raymond is survived by his sister Vergie Ballard of Amarillo, TX; sister Annette Horton of Tyler, TX; and brother Don L. Smith and wife Barbara of Amarillo, TX.
As a veteran, pastor, educator, and wonderful human being, Raymond also leaves behind extended family, a multitude of brothers-in-arms, friends, former co-workers, ex-students, loved parishioners, and Christian brothers and sisters.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by Cook-Walden Funeral Home, located at 6100 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas 78752. The funeral will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 20th, at the funeral home.