Harold Faught Smith's Obituary
HAROLD FAUGHT SMITH. Humble, soft spoken, Harold Faught Smith died September 18, 2014. He was born November 11, 1923, to Thurston White Smith and Mazie Myrtle Smith. Harold lived in Texas for many years, where he was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Fort Stockton, Texas. There, he served as elder. Upon the time of his death, he was a member of Maples United Methodist Church, Olive Branch, Mississippi. He attended Frayser School and by the time he reached high school, he joined many of his friends in attending Millington High School. He valued these friendships and continued to keep in touch with them through life. At Millington High School, he excelled in state basketball, football and track and lettered in each. At the age of three, he had his first encounter with an “airplane”. His mother had taken him to see a publicity fly-in which involved a public showing of a new plane. That sparked a flame in Harold that continued to burn 87 years later. He was a charter member in the “Experimental Aircraft Organization” and with the building of an early childhood dream, the construction of a Midget Mustang. This plane continues to fly in Texas. Harold, for several years, was afforded to own several private planes. Upon graduation from high school, Harold joined the military. The dream of flying was to become a reality. Attending West Virginia University he was selected for pilot training. From there he went to Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama and to Hawthorne School of Aeronautics in Orangeburg, South Carolina. This was followed by time at Sumter, South Carolina where he had his basic flight training. He was then assigned to Moody Field in Valdosta, Georgia. Harold had been trained to fight Germans; however, his war was not to be with them. His orders were to become an Advanced Flight Instructor and train American and French pilots to fly. He was assigned to fly the B-25 plane and commissioned a Captain. He served his country well. Coming into civilian life meant it was necessary to get established in a career. Those first years Harold was associated with electrical engineering firms. He had just gone to work for a growing oil company called Warren Petroleum. He was transferred to southeastern New Mexico. Warren Petroleum sat in the richest oil field within the United States, called the Permian Basin. Quickly establishing himself within the community, the ranchers looked to him to help with their electrical needs and in return, land was provided for an airstrip known as Bird Field for a silver Luscombe, Harold’s private plane. Later Harold relocated to Hobbs, New Mexico. It was there that Harold’s artistic talent was recognized, something that he tended to take for granted. One of his oil paintings was the depiction of the beautiful Tularosa Basin in New Mexico and this painting was selected for exhibit at the Governor’s Palace in Sante Fe, New Mexico. He was offered a tidy sum for the painting but refused and the painting now hangs in his home. This talent had been there all his life, but it was during this part of life it was nurtured and recognized by other artists. In 1968, a change was getting Harold’s attention, one of transition and escalation in his career. Exotic sounding names of faraway places began to surface, like Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. These changes were the result of job offers from other companies. He joined up with Elcor Chemicals where he participated in a project in the roofing industry. During the time at Elcor, there were trips to Chicago Nuclear, Foxboro School of Instrumentation in Boston and Harnischfeger Institute of Technology in Madison. The certification received from these schools launched Harold into a whole new career. By 1973, he was with Creole International out of Houston, which once again put him back into the Texas oil fields. He spent the next years in Egypt and the upper Sudan teaching Egyptians electrical engineers how to run a refinery. It was during this time Harold read the Koran from front to end. He started a personal campaign in the 1970’s to curtail the lax immigration policies that the United States had in place. He was rebuffed by one politician after another. Egypt was followed by two exciting, beautiful years in Peru. There, Harold could be on the floor of the Amazon Basin and a short helicopter ride would have him standing atop the Andes. His purpose in Peru was to fulfill a contract with Petro Peru, controlled by the Peruvian government. However, the company pulled him out quickly due to civil unrest. Next, it was time to return to the least favorite of all locations, Lagos, Nigeria to open oil fields. Finally, the last overseas duty was in Muscat, Oman before he returned to the United States. Those last few years, Harold worked from California to Florida to Massachusetts. Before retiring, Harold developed the Indicon Vibration System. This system is used universally by every turbine manufacturer in the world today. Survivors include his wife, Alice Bray Smith of the Nesbit community, a daughter, Vicky Slack of Houston, Texas, one grandson, Steve Gann and one great-grandson, Brennan of Fort Collins, Colorado, a brother, Gerald Smith of Dallas, Texas and three nieces, sister-in-law, Mildred Smith of Bartlett, Tennessee; a special friend with close ties to the family, Robert Hamilton. He was preceded in death by his parents and former wife, Billie Margaret Cadenhead and brother, Gene Smith. A Memorial service will be held on Friday, September 26 at 2 p.m. with Visitation beginning at 1 p.m. at Maples United Methodist Church, 8745 Goodman Road, Olive Branch, Mississippi, with Pastor John Sudduth and Dr. James D. Whitmire of Memphis officiating. Selected music will be presented by Rev. Jamie Parker. Private interment will be in Memorial Park Cemetery, Memphis, Tennessee. Memorials may be made to Maples Memorial Church-Building Fund at the above address and the Adrian Rogers Legacy Library, 1208 U.S. Highway 1, Suite B., North Palm Beach, Florida 33408. The family will welcome friends and family for a time of remembrances after the service in the Nesbit home. Expressions of sympathy may be left at [email protected] arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave. Memphis, TN 38119, “Behind the Stone Wall.”
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