Alvin Smith

March 9, 1927 – September 23, 2021

Al Smith was born into a happy, successful middle-class family in La Grande, Oregon, on March 9, 1927, to Byron Lemuel and Thelma (Meyer) Smith.

The family moved to the Yakima Valley in Washington state, where Byron Smith was a manager with Safeway grocery stores. Byron died of diphtheria when Al was 8 years old.

Al was about 14 when he met the great love of his life, a rancher’s daughter named Patricia Rose Dodge. They both graduated from Wapato High School in 1945 and Al enlisted in the U.S. Navy in May of that year and was honorably discharged in May of 1947. They were married on Aug. 15, 1948.

Al would graduate with a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington in 1954, just after the birth of the fifth of their six children. Pat graduated from what was then Washington State College, with a degree in early childhood education.

All their children grew up to be educators or businessmen and raise loving families of their own, producing a host of grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great grandchildren.

Pat was a rock of support in the family and the family business, the Al Smith Company, founded in the late ’50s in Bellevue, Washington. The company garnered awards for Top Salesman, Top Sales Performance, and Excellence in Sales and Support.

The six siblings agree that they are so close as adults because of their dad’s encouragement to stay connected through yearly family reunions (which these days can run into the hundreds of participants).

Al and Pat enjoyed boating, beachcombing and skiing for years. Then came the second and greatest loss of Al’s life, when Alzheimer’s stole Pat’s memory and her ability to care for herself and, ultimately, Al’s ability to care for her.

It was Al’s grandchildren – great and great-great – who gave him one final dose of love, sharing smiles, laughs and hugs with him in his last few years, making the story of Al Smith’s passing not about a life lost, but about love found.

Alvin Edward Smith died Sept. 23 at Summer Wood Alzheimer’s Special Care Center in Moses Lake, where he had received warm and thoughtful care for more than three years.

He was preceded in death by Patricia Rose (Dodge) Smith. He is survived by a sister Norma (Wooten) of Seattle, Washington; four daughters Diana (Shapley) of Palisades, Washington; Rebecca (Lnenicka) of Ephrata, Washington; Sandy (Hatcher) of Yacolt, Washington, and Debbie (Classon) of Jacksonville Beach, Florida; two sons Alvin Smith of Fall City, Washington, and Brad Smith of Battle Ground, Washington; 22 grandchildren, 66 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.

A remembrance and interment of ashes will be held at Terrace Heights Memorial Park From 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2021. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the local Alzheimer’s Association at https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2.

Please express your thoughts and memories at www.kayserschapel.com. Arrangements are under the care of Kayser’s Chapel of Memories of Moses Lake, Washington.