Thomas Smith

Smith, Thomas R. HONOLULU, HAWAII/ MADISON Thomas R. Smith of Honolulu and Madison, died Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008, at the Don and Marilyn Anderson HospiceCare Center in Fitchburg. He was born March 18, 1922, in a house in Benton. He was also known as "Snuffy," "Hank," "Henry," or "Richard." He was the son of Roy L. Smith and Mathilda Karrmann Smith. He spent part of his childhood in Darlington and graduated from high school in Evansville. He is survived by his sister, Jeanette Smith Fellows of Evansville; his sons, Kenneth J. (Roberta) Smith of Monona, Ned Thomas Smith of Tustin, Calif., and Clarke Marshall Smith of Honolulu, Hawaii; as well as six grandchildren, Charlotte Smith, Nathaniel Smith, and Alexander Smith of Madison, Danielle Smith of Portland, Ore., Travis Smith of Tustin, Calif., and Zakary Smith of Honolulu. Tom was a fast friend of many people wherever he went. After leaving high school, he worked as a cable splicer for Wisconsin Bell Telephone. In 1942, he went into the Armys Signal Corps, where he rose to the rank of master sergeant, serving in the Pacific on Oahu, Guam, Saipan, New Caledonia, Okinawa, and other islands. After the war, he entered the University of Wisconsin-Madison and met and married Georgiana Browne of Madison. He worked for Kellogg Switchboard and Supply Co. out of Lima, Ohio, the Mansfield, Ohio Telephone Company and ITT, located in Palo Alto, Calif. In 1960, he and his wife and three sons moved to Hawaii, where he remained a resident the rest of his life. After retiring from ITT, he worked another 12 years for the Reliable Electric Company, another telephone equipment supplier. In 1985, Georgiana died, and in 1987, he married Ellen Bonebrake, and divorced in 1989. Tom and Ellen remained close friends. In the 1990s, he began splitting time between Hawaii and Wisconsin, staying in Evansville with his sister. In 2003, he began spending most of his time in Madison, where he began a close partnership with Diane Erickson, of Madison, who was with him throughout his final years and final illness. Tom was a 32nd degree Mason, a lifetime participant in amateur theater and an active member of Civitans, a community service organization, in Honolulu. In his late 50s, he ran in three Honolulu marathons, completing all three. He was an avid golfer, around a 10 handicap, and a 45 year member of Mid-Pacific Country Club in Lanikai, Honolulu, Hawaii. His family deeply appreciates the wonderful care and kindness of the staff at HospiceCare in the last week of his life. A pair of memorial services will be held in Wisconsin and Hawaii in April. In lieu of cards or flowers, please consider donations to the Don and Marilyn Anderson HospiceCare Center, the Wisconsin Council for the Blind, The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation or the Susan G. Komen for the Cure anti-breast cancer organization.