NORTH WILKESBORO - Herman Edward Smith, 84, passed away at his home on Elledge Mill Road in the Mulberry Community of Wilkes County on Saturday, July 27, 2002, following a more than nine-year bout with cancer.

He is survived by his wife, Betty Mangum Parker Smith of the home; his son, Larry E. Smith and daughter-in-law, Amanda E. Smith of West Jefferson; three stepchildren, Anita Parker Briley of Tarboro, Larry Lee Parker Jr. of Tarboro and Annette Parker Worrell of Colonial Heights, Va.; three grandchildren, Timothy G. Smith of Denver, Colo., Mark Smith of West Jefferson and Leslie Smith Sorrells of Rocky Mount; a brother, Herbert Smith of West Columbia, S.C.; two sisters, Alice Marie Smith Robertson of Columbus, Ohio and Gloria Anita Smith Hogsten of Columbia, S.C.; four great-grandchildren, Noah Smith, Heather Smith, Amanda Sorrells and Medford Sorells; and eight stepgrandchildren. Herman was preceded in death by his first wife, Lillian Marie Elledge Smith, daughter of James Blaine and Mary Jane Burchette Elledge; a brother, Shirlie Howard Smith; and five sisters, Olivene Smith, Obra Ethel Day, Hazel Izetta Gills, Nellie Mae Clagg and Kathleen Edith Coffman. Born on June 3, 1918, at Fall River, (now Roderfield,) McDowell County, W.Va., Mr. Smith was the son of William Noah and Laura Della Harman Smith; the grandson of Allen and Emily Bishop Smith; great-grandson of John Fletcher and Mary Lester Smith; the great-great-grandson of Isaiah and Elizabeth Fletcher Smith and the great-great-great-grandson of Revolutionary War veteran, Shorten Smith.

He was a retired electronics engineer from FASCO Industries in Fayetteville. Prior to FASCO, he worked for more than 20 years as an air-electronics maintenance foreman at Pope Air Force Base near Fayetteville. He was a proud veteran of World War II, having served with the U.S. Navy, then served in Korea with the U.S. Army. He reached the level of captain in the U.S. Army Reserves after serving in Korea. Prior to World War II, he worked as a coal miner and mine foreman in Premier, W.Va. He was a member of the Baptist Home Baptist Church in Mulberry and an active member of VFW Post 1142 in North Wilkesboro. He was also a member of a team of U.S. Park Service personnel, which included his grandson, Timothy G. Smith, and volunteers who found the sunken Civil War submarine, H.L. Hunley, in Charleston Harbor in 1996. He was an ardent student of the Civil War and could relate from memory his studies of recorded details of almost every battle. For more than 25 years he has shepherded an annual reunion of his siblings and more than 200 of their descendants. He enjoyed genealogy research on his family and was an avid user of the Internet, e-mailing his "buddy list" almost daily. Herman Edward Smith, husband, father, stepfather, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend, will be missed by everyone who knew him. Truly, A Giant Has Fallen. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, July 29, at Baptist Home Baptist Church with the Rev. Paul Corner, the Rev. Rex Eldreth and the Rev. Harvey Clark officiating. Burial with military rites by VFW Post 1142 will be held in Mountlawn Memorial Park.