Early life
Smith was born in Seattle on February 25, 1930, under the name Michael King.[1][3] According to his family’s obituary, Emory and Mabel Smith adopted him at 20 months old and renamed him Delford Michael Smith.[1] About three months after the adoption, his adoptive father was killed in an accident, leaving Mabel a widow to raise her young son alone.[26] She raised him in Centralia, Washington, during the Great Depression and World War II.[1] The Los Angeles Times reported that he was adopted from an orphanage at about age two. It also reported that his mother cleaned houses and worked in a candy factory, and that young Del delivered newspapers and did farm work.[3]
“I borrowed from a second bank, paid the first one off, then paid the second one. I got started with credit at an early age.” Del Smith, recalling a $2.50 loan he took out at age 7 to start mowing lawns, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times (from his 2002 Horatio Alger Association remarks)[3]
He graduated from Centralia’s Edison High School in 1949 and attended Centralia Junior College. In 1953 he graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in business and psychology.[1] The 1953 University of Washington yearbook lists him as a senior in psychology and a member of Phi Gamma Delta, the Arnold Air Society (the Air Force ROTC honor society) and Scabbard & Blade.[31] The 1952 yearbook lists him in Phi Gamma Delta as “Smith, Bud, Jr.”[32]
Del’s own copy of The American College Dictionary, stamped “DELFORD SMITH” in gold on the cover, is in the collection. It is the 1948 Text Edition, published the year he turned 18. See it on The Collection page.
Military service
Sources describe his service differently. The family obituary says he was in Air Force ROTC at university and then served as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division during the Korean War.[1] The University of Washington yearbooks for 1952 and 1953 list him in the Arnold Air Society, the Air Force ROTC honor society.[31][32] The Los Angeles Times and Wikipedia say he served in the U.S. Air Force.[3][4] Which account is right is not yet confirmed. The collection at the residence includes Del’s Airborne class book, printed “Headquarters and Service Co., Airborne Class 1, Graduation 30 July 1954.” Its roster lists him among the student officers as “Lt. Smith, Delford M.” of Centralia, Washington, and April has identified him in the class photograph, so he was a lieutenant in 1954 (per the classbook, per April). The book does not name the service. See the classbook on The Collection page.
Building Evergreen
In 1955 Smith learned to fly a Hiller helicopter while working for Dean Johnson Helicopters in McMinnville. He came to see the helicopter as a commercial “workhorse.” In 1960 he and his longtime friend Quay Jorgensen formed Evergreen Helicopters.[1] The family obituary credits Evergreen as the first company to use helicopters to spray fertilizer, spread seed, and fight forest fires. Evergreen also developed and patented the “Pace Spreader” spray system.[1]
In 1975 Smith bought Johnson Flying Service of Missoula, Montana, and an aircraft maintenance center in Marana, Arizona. These purchases took Evergreen into the airline business.[1] By the late 1980s the company was one of Oregon’s largest privately held businesses, with seven companies and more than 2,300 employees.[5] At its height it operated more than 200 aircraft.[1] The Los Angeles Times described a helicopter and air-cargo service that operated in 168 countries.[3]
Evergreen took on missions around the world, including:
- helping the World Health Organization fight river blindness in Africa[1]
- flying the Shah of Iran to safety in 1979[1] (the author also confirms the 1979 date)
- helping fight the Kuwaiti oil-well fires after the Gulf War[1][3]
- delivering food to Kosovo refugees[3]
- maintaining NASA’s Space Shuttle Carrier Aircraft[1][4]
In its later years Evergreen had financial trouble. It sold its helicopter business in 2013, and Evergreen International Airlines filed for bankruptcy around the turn of 2014.[3][5]
Timeline
- 1930Born in Seattle, Feb. 25.[1][3]
- 1953Graduates from the University of Washington.[1]
- 1955Learns to fly helicopters in McMinnville.[1]
- 1960Co-founds Evergreen Helicopters.[1][2]
- 1975Enters the airline business with the purchase of Johnson Flying Service.[1]
- 1992His museum wins the bid for the Hughes H-4 Hercules.[11]
- 1995His son Michael dies after a car crash.[7][8]
- 2001The Evergreen Aviation Museum opens on June 6.[11]
- 2002Receives the Horatio Alger Award[3] and begins building the villa in Dundee.[14]
- 2008The Space Museum opens on June 6.[11]
- 2011Evergreen Wings & Waves Waterpark opens.[3][11]
- 2014Dies at home on Nov. 7, age 84.[1][2]
Honors & philanthropy
The family obituary lists the Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy, the Lawrence Bell Memorial Award, the Museum of Flight Pathfinder Award, the Boy Scouts of America Silver Beaver Award, and the Horatio Alger Award among his honors. It also says he was recognized for humanitarian work around the world.[1]
His best-known public legacy is the museum campus in McMinnville, founded with his son Michael. It includes the Michael King Smith educational institution, whose programs let high-school students take advanced courses in math, science, physics, and engineering.[1] Museum director Larry A. Wood told the LA Times that after Michael’s death, Smith “built it dramatically larger than it probably would have been otherwise.”[3]
“Merton chose to search rather than follow. I think that’s what made his life so rich.”Mark Smith, in a letter for his father’s 71st birthday, found in Del’s copy of The Seven Storey Mountain. Read the letter.
Smith died in his sleep on November 7, 2014.[1] News reports place his death at his home in Yamhill County[2], and Wikipedia specifies Dundee.[4] Whether that home was this residence is not yet confirmed. A memorial gathering was held at the Evergreen Aviation Museum on December 6, 2014.[1]