Donald Kenneth Smith was born at home on the first day of summer (June 21) 1931 into a family that goes by middle names. Family knew him as Ken. He had a fun and colorful childhood in Little Neck, New York. Upon graduating high school, he enlisted in the Air Force, where he spent four years stationed in Puerto Rico, served his country and made some lifelong friends. This is when he started being called Don. After leaving the service he attended Boston College where he earned a degree in chemistry. Eventually, he met a beautiful stewardess from Ireland named Betty. Betty spurned his initial advances because when they met he was playing hooky from work so she assumed he was a lazy guy. Luckily, he convinced her he was not. They married in August of 1959 in a small ceremony at a church in NYC. Mark was born in 1960, and they moved to the suburbs of Boston, where they thought they'd stay forever. Laura came along a few years later, and one day Don received a job offer from a small company named Santa Barbara Research Center. They had to look at a map to see where Santa Barbara was. He took the job and they made the move. Linda was born in Santa Barbara and then finally Paul. Don spent 25 years working at SBRC, working his way up the company ladder. He retired as the Director of Corporate Marketing on a Friday and started a new position at Amber Engineering the following Monday. At Amber, he got to work with some old colleagues and met some new ones. The new guys were amused to learn that Don was Pink Floyd's biggest (and possibly oldest) fan. Some of them attended a Pink Floyd concert with him years later. Eventually he retired (again) from Amber and started his own company, Lumitron. Lumitron was a successful company he was rightly proud of. He ultimately sold it and finally retired for good this time.
Life was fun for the Smith family. Pool parties, family vacations where Don could be heard saying over and over of the views, "Isn't that pretty, gang?" Their house became a hub for the friends of the kids. Just two years ago, Linda was in town gathering with friends of hers and Mark's for dinner. Don asked her to invite them to the house so he could say hello to everyone. He then purchased margarita fixins and sombreros, which everyone was required to wear. A fun time was had by all.
Most people reading this know that travel was a passion for Don. He and Betty traveled the world, literally. There is a world map in his office at home with red push pins in every spot they visited. There are hundreds of push pins on that map. They traveled by car, by plane, by train and by ship. They spent time with their wonderful family in Ireland and made friends in every corner of that big world map.
Don was sharp as a red push pin until the very last day. He loved his family and demonstrated that in everything he did, every single day. He got everything he wanted out of life and went to sleep on January 4 knowing that his family loved him. He passed peacefully in his sleep that night.
Don/Ken is predeceased by his sister Fran. He is survived by his brother Russ, his wife Betty, children Mark (Cristi), Laura, Linda and Paul (Vanessa), his grandchildren, Amelia (Brooke), Cole, Annika, Aislinn and Finley.
We will miss him always.
A memorial service will be held for Don at St. Raphael's Church (5444 Hollister Ave., Santa Barbara, CA) on Friday, January 30 at 10:00 a.m.