Loved and Beloved

When asked about his 69 year marriage to Ardis, Glenn stated, "It's been a blast!"

American Hero (9/29/1918 - 2/28/2012)

Glenn's Self-Written Obituary:

Glenn J. Smith was born September 29, 1918 in Frontier, Michigan. He was the only son of Jay and Myrtle (Yost) Smith, and he had four older sisters. He attended primary schools in rural districts of Calhoun and Hillsdale County and then Frontier High School. He married Ardis Carol Dickey February 15, 1941 in Frontier, Michigan.

A veteran of World War II, Smith served in the Headquarters Battery 22nd Field Artillery Battalion of the 4th Armored Division. He was inducted into the service at Fort Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan on April 1, 1942. While he was in the United States, Ardis traveled to be with him wherever he was stationed. His division left for over-seas duty from Camp Miles Standish in Rhode Island on December 24, 1943. His division landed in South Wales and went on to Great Britain waiting for the order to invade France. He served in the European Theater of Operations for 21 months and was in the campaigns at Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes and Central Europe. He was awarded the Good Conduct Medal, five major Battle Stars, and the Bronze Star Medal for heroic action against the enemy. He was honorable discharged Oct. 23, 1945 at Indiantown Gap, PA.

Glenn took advantage of the G.I. Bill of Rights and went back to school for training as a refrigeration engineer with on-the-job credit at Sherer-Gillett Co. in Marshall. After graduation, he was promoted to company service manager and later to quality control manager. He also was a private airplane pilot, transporting parts from suppliers and factory personnel to various locations. He and Ardis built and operated the first two car washes in Marshall, and Ardis owned and operated the Frosty Boy ice cream parlor. They managed and maintained these businesses while he was employed at Warren-Sherer Co. He retired from Warren-Sherer Co. after 33 years of service.

Glenn's hobbies included deer hunting, photography, golf, bowling, fishing and woodworking. He and Ardis belonged to the Marshall Country Club, VFW and Moose Lodge 676. He attended the United Methodist Church of Marshall.

He is survived by his daughter, Deanna Smith (Pat Fox) of Battle Creek and his son, Dennis Smith (Marjorie) of Marshall. He has two grand-daughters and five great grandchildren.

Visitation will be held on Friday, March 2 from 7:00PM to 9:00PM at the Craig K. Kempf Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Marshall. A funeral service to celebrate the gift of his life will be held Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 10:30AM at the Craig K. Kempf Funeral Home & Cremation Services with Pastor Len Schoenherr officiating.

The family requests that memorials be given to Lifespan Good Samaritan Hospice of Battle Creek or the United Methodist Church of Marshall. Assistance with memorials is available at the funeral home. To sign the guestbook and leave the family a personal message, please visit www.kempffuneralhome.com

http://kempffuneralhome.com/_mgxroot/page_10780.php?id=1037672

Ardis Carol Smith (5/22/1921 - 5/3/2010)

Ardis Carol Smith, 88, of Marshall died on Monday, May 3, 2010, at Marshall Nursing and Rehabilitation Community.

Mrs. Smith was born on May 22, 1921, in Hillsdale County to Edgar and Flossie (Fowler) Dickey. She attended Crampton rural school and graduated from Frontier High School in 1938. After graduating, she worked for the National Youth Association office in Coldwater for a few years. On February 15, 1941, she married Glenn J. Smith at the United Brethren Church in Frontier. He survives.

Mrs. Smith worked in a defense plant and sold government defense bonds while her husband was serving in the war overseas. After his honorable discharge, the couple moved to Marshall where she worked for Win Schuler's Restaurant for 18 years. After she retired, she and Glenn managed the two car washes that they built in 1964 and 1967. Later she owned and operated the Frosty Boy Ice Cream Parlor in Marshall for several years. Mrs. Smith attended the Marshall United Methodist Church. She was a member of the Marshall Women of the Moose and Marshall Country Club. She loved buying and selling antiques in Shipshewana.

She is survived by her husband Glenn of Marshall, daughter Deanna (Pat Fox) Smith of Battle Creek, a son Dennis (Marge) Smith of Marshall, two granddaughters Carol (John) Johnson, and Karen (Nick) Dysinger. She is also survived by four great-grandchildren, two sisters Evelyn Smith of Battle Creek, and Phyllis Rice of Tuscan, Arizona. She was preceded in death by her parents and brothers Lyndon and Darrel Dickey.

Visitation will take place at the Craig K. Kempf Funeral Home on Wednesday from 5-8pm with family present to greet friends at that time. Funeral services celebrating her life will take place at 1pm on Thursday at the funeral home with Reverend Len Schoenherr officiating. Interment will follow at Oakridge Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Marshall United Methodist Church or the Marshall Community Foundation. Assistance with memorials is available at the Kempf Funeral Home.

http://kempffuneralhome.com/_mgxroot/page_10780.php?task=Current&listing=All

January 2008

On page 28 where I previous mentioned living long enough to see our grandchildren married and having there own homes………..then would it be too much to ask to see great grandchildren………..well now we have reached that plateau………Karen our youngest granddaughter beautifully increased the number in our family by having the most magnificent baby girl that you would ever want to see…..Adreinne Grace Dysinger is her name, and I’m sure will grow up to be as beautiful then as she is now, Nick will be working on the future time frame to produce a brother to his little girl, I’m sure………The best of luck to the three of you. NOTE----This is January 21, 2008 I happened to click on to this addition and figured I should update it to present, we now have a little boy to add to our collection, Carol and John contributed to this blessing, also, we have just heard that Karen will be having another girl soon, The years keep piling up, wonderful additions to our family tree. WHAT IF WE LIVE TO BE A 100 ??????

Afterthoughts

This actually started during the period of growing up in the country on farms of our childhood, my most recalled period was during the depression of 1929, some of this has been mentioned previously in my autobiography however, this has to do with not with the hardships experienced at the time but with the differences which you might call two different cultures, I will call the first THREE IN A HILL indicating a near perfect plant in Farmers English, the second culture I will call a job enforced Ivey league necessity to successfully do my job proficiently and to the positive approval of my direct supervisors. In the first culture we as most all people of that time were usually satisfied with the status quo, let things ride if they were going well instead of trying to think of a way to build a better mousetrap. In the second culture I found that as my job classification improved and my salary increased to more of an executive level, more responsibility was expected of me, this naturally required more time and energy plus the fact that I realized I would have to spend more time in front of large audiences talking and answering questions concerning problems with present products and explaining the design and operation of new products.

This relatively new job demand was something that I was not entirely happy with, and concerned myself with the possibility of getting some sound advice on better speech programming.

With this in mind I started looking for institutions that I could attend not too far from Marshall, this I found by looking into the Dale Carnegie leadership development training courses and seminars, I could take a three day seminar in Grand Rapids or Lansing on Effective Communications and Human Relations which I thought would satisfy my thirst for effective program Communication, which it did quite well, and with further advice from there Golden Book on Creating an Executive Image it advanced my education on things that would be forthcoming much faster than anyone had predicted as we were fast growing into a major manufacturing corp. that demanded more and more time from the engineering and design departments and many more field trips to inform distributors and customers and service people on the sensitive and complex systems that we were manufacturing.

These systems were the new dual jet Frozen Food and commercial temperature jet flow cases and the complex Environmental walk-in and cases that many colleges and anniversaries ordered for experimental purposes. I might mention here that my three-year period that I worked with one of the most brilliant engineers in the field of refrigeration, Mr. Sterling Beckwith of Chicago who incidentally invented the dual jet system, and also who was CHICAGO STOCKYARD FAME, he also, was on call when needed by JOHN DEERE CORP, MINNEOPOLIS MOLLINE CORP.

McCormick International corp. and several automobile manufactures.

I credit whatever skills I might have developed from this brilliant person to the resulting accomplishments that controlled my future life in the Refrigeration Industry and profitable business establishments that we enjoyed creating for many years.

That era was without a doubt a distraction of what we were accustomed to in our growing up days and that which we were being subjected to as we progressed in our working life as well as our social responsibilities to contend with. As I was progressing in job performance I was included in all production meetings and became a main speaker at Factory Zone Managers meeting and seminars whether it be in Marshall or somewhere else in the United States. We were invited to social activities to the Sherer’s the Coolidges, the Bowers, the Twists and any visiting VIP that was factory connected in some manner.

In writing this I think back on how it all started, a high school kid dropping out in the eleventh grade to go to work in order to make some money and then realizing later in life what a mistake I made, and eventually making it a promise to myself that I would never stop evaluating myself until I reached a plateau that I as well as my friends could say, well done. It has been many years since that free wheeling snoty-nose kid made that drastic mistake, however, unless they read my autobiography and this article they would never guess it could be the same person that is writing this true story

Without a doubt there were times when I had help from my friend and faith restorer from above.

I finished writing this the (17^th of July 2007)

June 2007

Missing page in my Autobiography to be added.

This actually started during the period of growing up in the country on farms of our childhood, my most recalled period was during the depression of 1929, some of this has been mentioned previously in my autobiography however, this has to do with not with the hardships experienced at the time but with the differences which you might call two different cultures, I will call the first THREE IN A HILL indicating a near perfect plant in Farmers English, the second culture I will call a job enforced Ivey league necessity to successfully do my job proficiently and to the positive approval of my direct

Supervisors. In the first culture we as most all people of that time were

Usually satisfied with the status quo, let things ride if they were going well

Instead of trying to think of a way to build a better mousetrap.

In the second culture I found that as my job classification improved and my

Salary increased to more of an executive level, more responsibility was expected of me, this naturally required more time and energy plus the fact that I realized I would have to spend more time in front of large audiences

Talking and answering questions concerning problems with present products and explaining the design and operation of new products.

This relatively new job demand was something that I was not entirely happy with, and concerned myself with the possibility of getting some sound advice on better speech programming.

With this in mind I started looking for institutions that I could attend not too far from Marshall, this I found by looking into the Dale Carnegie leadership development training courses and seminars, I could take a three day seminar in Grand Rapids or Lansing on Effective Communications and Human Relations which I thought would satisfy my thirst for effective program Communication, which it did quite well, and with further advice from there Golden Book on Creating an Executive Image it advanced my education onThings that would be forthcoming much faster than anyone had predicted as we were fast growing into a major manufacturing corp. that demanded more and more time from the engineering and design departments and many more Field trips to inform distributors and customers and service people on the Sensitive and complex systems that we were manufacturing.

These systems were the new dual jet Frozen Food and commercial temperature jet flow cases and the complex Environmental walk-in and cases that many colleges and anniversaries ordered for experimental purposes. I might mention here that my three-year period that I worked with one of the most brilliant engineers in the field of refrigeration, Mr. Sterling Beckwith of Chicago who incidentally invented the dual jet system, and also

Who was CHICAGO STOCKYARD FAME, he also, was on call when needed by JOHN DEERE CORP, MINNEOPOLIS MOLLINE CORP.

McCormick International corp. and several automobile manufactures.

I credit whatever skills I might have developed from this brilliant person to the resulting accomplishments that controlled my future life in the Refrigeration Industry and profitable business establishments that we enjoyed creating for many years.

That era was without a doubt a distraction of what we were accustomed to in our growing up days and that which we were being subjected to as we progressed in our working life as well as our social responsibilities to contend with. As I was progressing in job performance I was included in all production meetings and became a main speaker at Factory Zone Managers meeting and seminars whether it be in Marshall or somewhere else in the United States. We were invited to social activities to the Sherer’s the Coolidges, the Bowers, the Twists and any visiting VIP that was factory connected in some manner.

In writing this I think back on how it all started, a high school kid dropping out in the eleventh grade to go to work in order to make some money and then realizing later in life what a mistake I made, and eventually making it a promise to myself that I would never stop evaluating myself until I reached a plateau that I as well as my friends could say, well done.

Without a doubt there were times when I had help from my friend and faith restorer from above.

May 2006 - January 2007

The Sherer party Wednesday evening (We picked Doris Ballard up) didn’t turn out too good, as turnout wasn’t as expected, we were about 18 people short this year, a lot due to sickness and old age of some of our people, I believe if my count was correct we had 20 people, all had a good time anyway, next year we will have the party some place different or if available in the basement of the Moonraker where it will be less noisy, people were playing pool in our room while we were eating and talking which was annoying to me, at least. The food and service was good however, most didn’t mind the noise.

Yesterday morning I had an appointment with Dr. Mahr for a checkup, all was OK, this morning I had an appointment for blood test, (may 4, 2006) and to determine the cloistral count and other things it tells the Doctor. The clock is striking noon, which means that its time for the Smith’s to head for McDonalds to have our ½ of a hamburger each and a drink, talk to ya later.

Hi Again, quite a lot has occurred since my last input, Jack and I didn’t play as much golf as we did last year, the weather didn’t cooperate well for us. However, I did not report on this before but it actually is a major accomplishment-------Here’s the story, I was going thru’ the VA news one niter and noticed that, the VA Administration had added THE LOSS OF HEARING to be eligible if service connected, for compensation, this was in 2005----I called the number it listed to apply and received the information on how to start----I e-mail a letter stating on how where and when my ear problem started, I was told that the situation causing my condition was established and entered into my army records in April of 1944 when I received the Bronze star medal in the area entering Countance France when the Half-Track I was driving was hit by a German 88 tank projectile. From there I followed procedures up until the present.

Resulting in unexpected compensation for my problem, much more than I ever imagined, However, it hasn’t been easy for me or for Ardis having to repeat most everything talked about.

This will be entered in its proper place in my autobiography, probably near the end as it is happening now (Oct.5th 2006) the first check will cause a

Family celebration somewhere you can count on that, maybe Shuler’s why not. I have not had a steak at Shuler’s since I retired 27 year’s ago.

Talk to ya later. This is (10-07-06) and I’m sending this to Karen to put in my story wherever she thinks it should go.

To further my investigation in the V.A. It was necessary to send them our marriage certificate to prove the marriage was legal for more compensation, as it turned out the entitlement was almost doubled, and I received the checks to prove it, however, it didn’t mention my wife concerning the benefits, so I am going to have to get in touch with Scott Losey to determine why. Scott is the Director for the VA in this area. This is 1-2-2007 of the new year (Not sure about Florida yet )