Arthur J. Smith, Jr., died peacefully of natural causes at the VAMC of Bedford MA July 9, 2020.
He was born on October 7, 1931 in Stoneham, MA and was raised in Melrose, the son of Arthur J Smith and Mary Philomena Sullivan Smith. Brother of the late Jeanne, Dorothy, and Phyllis. Husband of the late Marie Loyola McHale Smith. Survived by his children, Arthur J Smith III of Worcester, Regina M Smith of Chelmsford, and William S Smith of Holden. Grandfather of Brady Smith, Caroline, Abigail, and Patrick Smith.
Graduate of Melrose High School, varsity swimmer on the swim team, and varsity football.
He enlisted into the US Army on his 18th birthday. Received basic training at Ft Dix. Served as an engineer in the Army Corps of Engineers at Guam and Japan before deployed to Korea for his first tour. He was wounded in April of 1950 at Chuncheon, he returned to combat in Korea and assigned to The Famous 24th Division. He was a Private First Class and Corporal. He was awarded two Purple Hearts, Korean Service Medal with three Bronze Stars, the UN Service Medal, and the Unit Presidential Citation. Upon his return home, he enrolled in Saunders Electronics School in Boston, where he became a certified electronics engineer. He then worked for companies such as Raytheon and IBM. A career highlight came working as a contractor for NASA on Project Apollo. He was assigned to the USNS Vanguard, the tracking ship for Apollo 11, where he designed tracking systems.
He then was hired by Microwave Associates as an RF Engineer, where he pioneered the design of the traveling waveguide tube, used for microwave uplinks and downlinks. He stayed with Microwave Associates for over 25 years until his retirement. He enjoyed amateur radio (callsign K1SVC), sporting including hunting and fishing, and archery. He was a longtime member of the Acton Sportsman Club Acton MA. He loved his wife, children, and grandchildren.
Funeral Services and Interment will be held privately. In lieu of flowers, the family asks you kindly make a donation in Arthur’s name to the Disabled American Veterans at dav.org.