Clay Smith was a wonderful grandfather. He was known to all the family as Dad Smith. He was born in Shrewsbury, Kentucky to Gideon Armstrong and Ellnora J. (Miller) Smith. In his youth he was a farmer, boxer and cave explorer.
He moved to Richmond Indiana about 1917 and worked as a trolley conductor and met his sole mate Bertha Alice Spraggins. They married in 1918 and become the parents of Mary Virginia in 1919. Ten years latter in 1929 they adopted a son Duane. It was during this time, dad worked as a planter at the Hills brothers rose greenhouses in Richmond. They purchased a home on North C Street. I remember him telling me his house payment was $12.00 per month and he should have purchased every house on the block. About 1939 they purchased a farm 12 miles south of Richmond in Abington; he worked the farm during the day and worked as the security guard for NATO Company in Richmond during the night. On his way to work he would drop off eggs, butter, milk, dressed chickens turkeys and garden products to customers. It was a good, but hard life for both of them, so about 1953 they sold the farm and moved back to Richmond until he retired on a small pension and social security. They then moved to Clearwater Florida.
Retirement life was not for a man who had worked so hard for so many years, so he started a yard service and house setting service in and around Clearwater. He worked this business until six months before his death at age 83.
One of the greatest moments in his life came when he and his grandson, David were out hunting on the 22nd of Sept.1955. They found a new born baby girl in a wrapped in a wet towel, lying in ditch beside the road. She was latter named Rose Ann Wayne and adopted by an unknown family. God was with her and them that day, for surely she would have died without them.
Not a famous man, but one who had earned the love and respect of those he touched in his life. This was the man we called Dad Smith.
He moved to Richmond Indiana about 1917 and worked as a trolley conductor and met his sole mate Bertha Alice Spraggins. They married in 1918 and become the parents of Mary Virginia in 1919. Ten years latter in 1929 they adopted a son Duane. It was during this time, dad worked as a planter at the Hills brothers rose greenhouses in Richmond. They purchased a home on North C Street. I remember him telling me his house payment was $12.00 per month and he should have purchased every house on the block. About 1939 they purchased a farm 12 miles south of Richmond in Abington; he worked the farm during the day and worked as the security guard for NATO Company in Richmond during the night. On his way to work he would drop off eggs, butter, milk, dressed chickens turkeys and garden products to customers. It was a good, but hard life for both of them, so about 1953 they sold the farm and moved back to Richmond until he retired on a small pension and social security. They then moved to Clearwater Florida.
Retirement life was not for a man who had worked so hard for so many years, so he started a yard service and house setting service in and around Clearwater. He worked this business until six months before his death at age 83.
One of the greatest moments in his life came when he and his grandson, David were out hunting on the 22nd of Sept.1955. They found a new born baby girl in a wrapped in a wet towel, lying in ditch beside the road. She was latter named Rose Ann Wayne and adopted by an unknown family. God was with her and them that day, for surely she would have died without them.
Not a famous man, but one who had earned the love and respect of those he touched in his life. This was the man we called Dad Smith.
Clay Smith was a wonderful grandfather. He was known to all the family as Dad Smith. He was born in Shrewsbury, Kentucky to Gideon Armstrong and Ellnora J. (Miller) Smith. In his youth he was a farmer, boxer and cave explorer.
He moved to Richmond Indiana about 1917 and worked as a trolley conductor and met his sole mate Bertha Alice Spraggins. They married in 1918 and become the parents of Mary Virginia in 1919. Ten years latter in 1929 they adopted a son Duane. It was during this time, dad worked as a planter at the Hills brothers rose greenhouses in Richmond. They purchased a home on North C Street. I remember him telling me his house payment was $12.00 per month and he should have purchased every house on the block. About 1939 they purchased a farm 12 miles south of Richmond in Abington; he worked the farm during the day and worked as the security guard for NATO Company in Richmond during the night. On his way to work he would drop off eggs, butter, milk, dressed chickens turkeys and garden products to customers. It was a good, but hard life for both of them, so about 1953 they sold the farm and moved back to Richmond until he retired on a small pension and social security. They then moved to Clearwater Florida.
Retirement life was not for a man who had worked so hard for so many years, so he started a yard service and house setting service in and around Clearwater. He worked this business until six months before his death at age 83.
One of the greatest moments in his life came when he and his grandson, David were out hunting on the 22nd of Sept.1955. They found a new born baby girl in a wrapped in a wet towel, lying in ditch beside the road. She was latter named Rose Ann Wayne and adopted by an unknown family. God was with her and them that day, for surely she would have died without them.
Not a famous man, but one who had earned the love and respect of those he touched in his life. This was the man we called Dad Smith.
He moved to Richmond Indiana about 1917 and worked as a trolley conductor and met his sole mate Bertha Alice Spraggins. They married in 1918 and become the parents of Mary Virginia in 1919. Ten years latter in 1929 they adopted a son Duane. It was during this time, dad worked as a planter at the Hills brothers rose greenhouses in Richmond. They purchased a home on North C Street. I remember him telling me his house payment was $12.00 per month and he should have purchased every house on the block. About 1939 they purchased a farm 12 miles south of Richmond in Abington; he worked the farm during the day and worked as the security guard for NATO Company in Richmond during the night. On his way to work he would drop off eggs, butter, milk, dressed chickens turkeys and garden products to customers. It was a good, but hard life for both of them, so about 1953 they sold the farm and moved back to Richmond until he retired on a small pension and social security. They then moved to Clearwater Florida.
Retirement life was not for a man who had worked so hard for so many years, so he started a yard service and house setting service in and around Clearwater. He worked this business until six months before his death at age 83.
One of the greatest moments in his life came when he and his grandson, David were out hunting on the 22nd of Sept.1955. They found a new born baby girl in a wrapped in a wet towel, lying in ditch beside the road. She was latter named Rose Ann Wayne and adopted by an unknown family. God was with her and them that day, for surely she would have died without them.
Not a famous man, but one who had earned the love and respect of those he touched in his life. This was the man we called Dad Smith.
