Wesley Alan Smith

1920 - 2017

September 8, 1920 - April 2, 2017 World War II Veteran, Wesley Alan Smith, died peacefully, surrounded by his family, at Queen of the Valley Hospital on April 2, 2017, of complications from pneumonia. He was 96. He was born in Prosser, Washington on September 8, 1920. He attended George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon and was freshman class president. He continued his education at Oregon State University where he majored in aeronautical engineering and helped build their first wind tunnel. In 1941, Wesley joined the U.S. Navy. Wes was assigned to the Naval Torpedo Bomber design team. After being promoted to Engineering Officer and overseeing all ordinance and bombsight operations, he was sent to Guam to set up an overhaul base for the U.S. Released with an honorary discharge from the Navy in 1945, Wes joined North American Aviation providing testing data on the B45. Later, he spent 12 years at Cal Tech in Pasadena, California, testing all U.S. aircraft in the Cal Tech Co-operative wind tunnel. During those years, he furthered his education at USC. The Boeing Company, the world's largest aerospace company, recruited Wesley in 1960 for several important projects. He and his family moved to Seattle, Washington. He was proud to have tested and gave the "good to go" for the revolutionary designed T-tail of the Boeing 727. In 1963, Wes re-located his family to Huntsville, Alabama, "Space capital of the world", to work on the Saturn 5 Moon Shot. Saturn 5 was the stage one booster for all U.S. spacecraft. It created 5 million pounds of thrust. NASA hired Boeing to do the main testing for their moonshot design where Wes was the supervisor for experimental aerodynamics. He worked with several German engineers and scientists including Werhner Von Braun. Wes tested rocket boosters for all Apollo Space Shots. In 1972, Wes moved to Marysville, Washington to manage Boeing's hazardous test site in Tulalip, Washington. He took early retirement from Boeing in 1982 to take care of his ailing wife, Jean. Wes moved to Napa, California in 2012 to live closer to his daughter and son. He received the Gold Star award from Theta XI fraternity in 2015, a member for 75 years. Wesley married Jean Harris in 1943. He was predeceased by his wife and his son, Wesley Alan Smith Jr. Wes is survived by his daughter, Teresa Smith Fox (John) of Napa; his son, Niel Phillips Smith (Ruenn Chiou) of San Jose, California; grandchildren: Tara J Fox, Marcus A Fox of Napa, and Christine WT Smith of Vienna, Austria; great grandchildren: Luke, Jennifer and Leah Lipanovich of Napa. A private ceremony was held at Tulocay Cemetery in Napa, California with the U.S. Naval Honor Guard and three volley rifle salutes. The family was presented with his flag.