Mansfield Irving Smith passed peacefully at home on May 3, 2024 at the age of 98. Mr. Smith was born in Worcester and attended North High School in Worcester, Massachusetts, where he graduated alongside the love of his life, Doris Sistrand. She was valedictorian and he was salutatorian -- though he claimed he took harder classes than she did. Their subsequent marriage spanned 69 years until her death in 2018. Mr. Smith graduated from West Point in 1949 and served for several years as a captain in the US Air Force, eventually leaving the service, as he wrote in his letter of resignation, in order "to seek better ways to work toward world peace". He enrolled in Syracuse University and earned his PhD in social sciences and international affairs. He worked for the Experiment in International Living in Putney, Vermont and later in Washington, D.C., where he also worked for the Council on Leaders and Specialists during his long career. For several years he hosted an early-morning educational program on public television in which he interviewed foreign visitors to the United States.
Mr. Smith embodied the ideals of kindness, tolerance, honesty, personal integrity, patriotism, duty, excellence and love of family. These were his guiding lights throughout his life, and he never strayed from them. He is survived by his children, Michael, Craig and Katherine Smith, his cousin, Marjorie Hastings, his brother, Gregory Healy, and his siblings, Edwin, Laura, Robin and Clifford Smith, along with beloved nieces, nephews, in-laws and friends. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM, September 20, 2024 in the chapel at Rural Cemetery, 180 Grove Street, Worcester, with a lunch to follow the interment.
HENRY – DIRSA FUNERAL SERVICE has care of arrangements.