Francis Kinney Smith

Francis Kinney (Kin) Smith, Lieutenant Colonel United States Air Force (Retired), went to be with Christ his Savior on February 4, 2008. Born October 23, 1938 in Avondale, NC, he is the son of the late William Duke and Ruth Cantrell Smith. He is survived by his beloved wife of 45 years, Nan Marie Augenstein Smith; two sons, Todd C. Smith and wife Marcia of Omaha, NE, and Matthew T. Smith and wife Lisa of Santa Clarita, CA; two sisters, Suzanne S. Smith of Charleston, SC, and Laura Edwards of Newberry, SC; five grandchildren and several nieces and nephews. Colonel Smith graduated from Blackville, SC, High School in 1956 and attended Clemson University for two years before winning an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy, where he was graduated in 1962. He married Nan two days after graduating. His Air Force career spanned twenty-three years and included assignments in Texas, California, South Dakota, Thailand, Florida, Colorado, and Nebraska, as well as temporary assignments in Alaska, England, Japan, and Greece. He flew almost two hundred missions in the Viet Nam conflict. After graduate school at Florida State University, he was on the English faculty of the US Air Force Academy for three years and then was assigned as head of the Air Force Academy Preparatory School English Department for two years. During his assignments in Nebraska and San Antonio he was a volunteer leader with the Boy Scouts at the District level. After retiring from the Air Force in 1985 he was a technical analyst for Locus, Inc. for several years. Following that he taught briefly at Palo Alto College in San Antonio. He finished his working career as administrator for Churchill Baptist Church in San Antonio, retiring from that position in 2001. He was a member and active deacon at Churchill Baptist for many years, where he also sang in the choir. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Building Fund of Woodland Park Christian Church, PO Box 6550, Woodland Park, Colorado 80866.