Paul W. Smith always has a smile on his face. And it’s been that way for nearly 100 years. Smith, formerly of Rouzerville and Waynesboro, will celebrate his centennial birthday July 16.
Born July 16, 1923, in Rouzerville, Smith was the second of six children born to Roy and Helen Smith. Siblings Helen Cool of Smithsburg, and Ann McGehee of Lancaster, also survive. Smith has three children, Stephen Smith of North Carolina, Rhonda Wahrenburg of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Gina Baker of Rouzerville, six grandchildren, three great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.
“He’s very easy going … always has been,” according to Baker. “He’s easy to get along with and doesn’t like contention. That’s why he’s been here for 100 years,” she added.
Smith grew up in Rouzerville and helped his father operate his business, Smith’s Country Store on Old Route 16. “I remember standing on a box to read the scales,” he recalled. Smith also rode along with his father on his routes to deliver milk and groceries. “I was his shadow, his pet,” Smith said.
Smith, who enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when he was 19, recently served as the grand marshal of Waynesboro’s Memorial Day parade. He served as an air crewman on a B25 aircraft. “He was a gunner with the bomb brigade in the South Pacific,” Baker noted. “He was a proud Marine. He didn’t talk about it much unless he was with his Marine buddies at their reunions.” After he was honorably discharged Dec. 6, 1945, Smith worked at Landis Tool Co. in Waynesboro, Westinghouse in Baltimore, Letterkenny Army Depot in Chambersburg, Frick Co. of Waynesboro, and retired at age 63 from Mack Trucks in Hagerstown after 20 years service.
Smith married Anna Haugh June 7, 1947, and the couple moved to Waynesboro.
Baker said her parents were very family oriented. “Like a lot of people, we would spend the day at our grandparents house or with other family and friends. We never went on vacation. On the weekends we would go to Greenbriar, Cowans Gap or Laurel Lake … spend the day … have lunch and dinner. They loved to do that.”
Baker said her father was always “fair about everything. If he did something for one (child), he wanted to do it for all three.”
Smith didn’t have a lot of hobbies, but enjoyed reading local newspapers “from front to back,” according to Baker.
Paul W. Smith will celebrate his 100th Birthday July 16
After Smith retired, he and his wife visited Sarasota, Florida, in the spring for a month or two. “After she got sick, they weren’t able to travel,” noted Baker. Anna Smith died in 1993. “I felt so bad for him when she passed. They did everything together. Fortunately, he found a companion and they were able to travel, including trips to Hawaii and Alaska.”
He enjoyed attending Penn State football games and watching Baltimore Orioles games. “He used to listen to the Orioles games on his transistor radio before they were on TV,” Baker said.
Smith lived alone until he was 93 and then in a rental property next to the home of Baker and her husband, Bob, in Rouzerville.
Smith fell during Covid and lived at The Leland in Waynesboro for three years until February, when he moved to Spirit Trust in Chambersburg. “He is in pretty good health, but just needs a little more care.”
Baker said Smith is able to go on outings and “likes rides in the car.”
At Spirit Trust, he enjoys sitting on the patio and attending Bible study. Smith said his favorite food is potpie, either with chicken, ham and beef “and Gina makes them all. And I like anything sweet.”
Smith will celebrate his birthday at an open house July 16 at Spirit Trust with family and friends.
Birthday cards may be sent to Smith at: Paul W. Smith, Spirit Trust, Rehab Room 310, The Village of Luther Ridge, 2998 Luther Drive, Chambersburg, PA 17202
