Edwin Waggoner Smith

Edwin Smith, 96, of Del Mar Terrace, died peacefully of natural causes Tuesday evening, May 31, 2011, at home in the hilltop house he and his second wife, Bea, built in the early 1960's.
Mr. Smith was born July 25, 1914, in Greeley, CO, where he lived through his college years. His mother, Hazel Smith Benton, died in the flu epidemic of 1919. Edwin, along with his two sisters, Vera and Sylvia Ruth, was adopted and raised by his maternal grandparents, Isaac Sidney Smith and Mary Frances Waggoner Smith, and their daughter, Eula Smith.
Mr. Smith graduated in 1935 with a B.A. in Speech from Greeley State Teachers' College, now the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley. He taught high school in Wray, CO, before returning to Greeley for graduate school. Mr. Smith went on to achieve dual Master's degrees in English and in Psychology. While in college, he worked as an early radio disc jockey and studied "Salesmanship and Advertising" at Barnes School of Commerce in Denver, CO.
Mr. Smith's work career in Colorado started early. At 10 years old he delivered daily neighborhood newspapers from his bicycle, in sunshine or snow, for $2.50 per week.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, he worked in Bellingham, WA, at KVOS radio station as a disc jockey, announcer, and radio operator. While in Bellingham, Mr. Smith taught "Broadcasting" at Western Washington College of Education, now Western Washington University.
Following Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Mr. Smith qualified for Civil Service as a "Radio Engineer" and in 1942 moved to San Diego to begin work at the Navy Radio and Sound Laboratory, subsequently named Navy Electronics Laboratory (N.E.L.) on Point Loma, now the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center. He worked at the N.E.L. through WWII teaching Navy enlisted men and officers classes in early Radar, Sonar and Underwater Detection. During his work career at N.E.L. from July 1942 until his retirement in 1974, Mr. Smith successfully obtained three U.S. Patents in electronics communications and control. Also for one year, he taught "The Psychology of Personal Adjustment" at San Diego Junior College.
Mr. Smith's avocation for many years was developing and selling San Diego real estate, notably in Poway and in Del Mar Terrace where he has lived since 1960. During his real estate avocation years, he studied civil engineering and became a self-taught surveyor using a 1960s 4-wheel-drive Scout and a small bulldozer in the back country of Poway. By the late 1960s, Mr. Smith owned numerous lots in upper Del Mar Terrace and was instrumental in developing them into house sites with roads, city sewer and underground electricity service, novel for its time.
Mr. Smith was preceded in death by his first wife, Berrell Ewer Smith Pronold, whom he divorced in 1960; his second wife, Beatrice Elizabeth Wirtz Smith and her son, John P. Wirtz; and his sisters, Sylvia Ruth Smith Loomis and Vera Smith Huffman.
He is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Rev. Peggy Smith Block and David E. Block of Ridgefield, CT; son and daughter-in-law, Stanley C. and Barbara S. Smith of Bishop, CA; step-daughter and her husband, Lynn M. and Richard G. Shanks of San Diego, CA; nine grandchildren; ten great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
No services will be held at his request. He will be laid to rest alongside his second wife, Beatrice E. W. Smith, at El Camino Memorial Park, Sorrento Valley, San Diego, CA.
The family suggests donations to a charity of choice in honor of Edwin W. Smith.
Please sign the guest book online at www.legacy.com/obituaries/delmartimes.