EDGAR SMITH

EDGAR CLARENCE SMITH  
Edgar Clarence Smith, Jr. of Chevy Chase, Maryland, passed away on May 20, 2020, at the age of 93. He was married for 64 years to his beloved wife Barbara Smith, who passed away in 2012. He is survived by sons, Frederick Smith and Paul Smith; daughter Martha Smith Lawless; five grandchildren; and extended family in California, Oregon, New York, and Denmark. Ed grew up in Los Angeles, and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II, becoming an instructor in a classified program on new radar technology. As a sailor based in San Francisco, he met Barbara, a native San Franciscan. They married in 1948 while Ed was attending Stanford University, where he earned both his bachelor's and master's degrees, before going on to earn a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Brown University. While completing his doctorate, Ed taught one year each at the University of Oregon and the University of Utah. In 1955, he changed direction and decided to go work for IBM, where his initial assignment was working with major research universities in the western United States to set up main frame computers on their campuses. He went on to have a long and successful career with the company, living in California, Connecticut, the south of France, and Paris. Barbara and Ed then had 12 wonderful retirement years in Carmel, California, where Ed enjoyed researching and writing about California's history, and served as a docent in the Monterey Maritime Museum. They then moved to the Washington area to be near family. The family encourages contributions in lieu of flowers to the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad. Services private.