Willard Gardner Smith

Willard Gardner Smith, 94, a native of Washington, D.C., and resident of Houma, died Thursday, Sept. 6, 2007. He will be cremated and his ashes will be interred in his family crypt in Greenwood Cemetery in New Orleans. The date is pending. He is survived by two daughters, Linda Dosse and husband, Robert, of Houma, and Jeannie Fuller and husband, John, of Denver; three grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, five step-grandchildren, 10 step-great-grandchildren and three step-great-great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Randolph Place Smith and Warren Jackson Smith. He inherited his love of life and outgoing personality from his mother; his love of music and reading from his father. During his life, which was full of enthusiasm and adventure, he enjoyed his family, travel and several different occupations. From 1930 to 1935 he worked on Standard Fruit Co. ships as a radio operator and purser. From 1935 to 1950 he was a flight radio operator, navigator and aviation pioneer for Pan American Airways. Between 1950 and 1958 he worked in marine maintenance and communications for Aramco (the Arabian-American Oil Co.) in Saudi Arabia. Beginning in 1958, he worked in telephone communications in New Orleans and Mandeville. He moved to Houma in 1998.