VETERAN
US NAVY
WORLD WAR II
VIETNAM
Early Life: Fairon James Smith was born August 12, 1927, in Murray, Utah, to Elisha Smith and Elsie Leona Nelson Bolinder Smith. A person of robust constitution, he weighed 13½ pounds at birth. He grew up with very little memory of his father, who died in 1932. His mother was a humble washerwoman. Lacking sufficient family support or guidance in his youth, he braved the world by running away from home repeatedly. He was blessed with a half-sister and brother-in-law, Elaine and Albert Geigle, who took him in, counseled him, and helped launch him in life.
Life's Work/Service/Interests: He enlisted in the United States Navy near the end of World War II. The discipline and purpose of military life became a foundation for him, as did, just a few years later, renewed activity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He looked sharp in uniform, which no doubt contributed to his marrying Carolyn Geneva Whiting in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in 1953. Together, they raised seven children in far flung places: Boston, MA; Bath, ME; Philadelphia, PA; Norfolk, VA; Fontainebleau, France; Key West, FL; Honolulu, HI; San Diego, CA and Provo, UT. He served in the Navy 27 years: a commissioned officer in 1960, a lieutenant upon retirement in 1972. He told stories of tugboats, buoys, collisions at sea, participating in the Cuba blockade, refueling warships off the coast of Vietnam, and ship's cooks gathering flying fish from the deck. He worked in navigation but knew his knots like no one else. His first ship was the battleship, USS Alabama; his ninth and last, the destroyer tender, USS Samuel Gompers. His loved ones remember him telling how his ship, the USS Manley, was struck broadside by a tremendous storm wave, nearly capsizing the vessel and claiming two fellow sailors' lives. Of all the stories he loved to tell, sea stories were his favorite. After retirement from the Navy, he worked in sales and quality control. He served as an LDS bishop in the San Diego California 2nd Ward, on four high councils, and as a high priest group leader. For the past 36 years, his home has been Provo, Utah. He always encouraged his children to pursue formal education. To show the way, after retirement, he earned an associate's degree. But his greatest legacies are his unflinching faith in God and love for family. He had a long life and enjoyed most all of it. His innate disposition was carefree. He often thought life was for whistling. Still, he cared, worried and provided for his own, and he loved them deeply. Fairon James Smith passed from this life August 23, 2016. He was 89.
Survived By: His wife, Carolyn; his children: Dwight, Lynel (Mark Christensen), Jenevre Thayne, Marcus (Sarah Cox), Christian (Patricia Bonney), and Renate; 28 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and half-brother, Aaron Johnson.
Preceded In Death By: His son, Le Grande Smith (Meredith Green); his father, Elisha Smith; mother, Elsie Leona (Nelson Bolinder Smith) Johnson; half- and step-siblings: Hilma Bolinder Dymock, Elaine Smith Geigle, Adele Smith Proctor, DeLoy Smith, Eldon Smith, Kelsey Johnson, Stanford Johnson, and Jay Johnson .
Services: North Park LDS Ward
Arranged: Walker Sanderson Funeral Home
Final Rest: Provo City Cemetery
Original obituary published by:
© Walker Sanderson Funeral Home | 2016
Bio compiled by: Annie Duckett Hundley
US NAVY
WORLD WAR II
VIETNAM
Early Life: Fairon James Smith was born August 12, 1927, in Murray, Utah, to Elisha Smith and Elsie Leona Nelson Bolinder Smith. A person of robust constitution, he weighed 13½ pounds at birth. He grew up with very little memory of his father, who died in 1932. His mother was a humble washerwoman. Lacking sufficient family support or guidance in his youth, he braved the world by running away from home repeatedly. He was blessed with a half-sister and brother-in-law, Elaine and Albert Geigle, who took him in, counseled him, and helped launch him in life.
Life's Work/Service/Interests: He enlisted in the United States Navy near the end of World War II. The discipline and purpose of military life became a foundation for him, as did, just a few years later, renewed activity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He looked sharp in uniform, which no doubt contributed to his marrying Carolyn Geneva Whiting in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in 1953. Together, they raised seven children in far flung places: Boston, MA; Bath, ME; Philadelphia, PA; Norfolk, VA; Fontainebleau, France; Key West, FL; Honolulu, HI; San Diego, CA and Provo, UT. He served in the Navy 27 years: a commissioned officer in 1960, a lieutenant upon retirement in 1972. He told stories of tugboats, buoys, collisions at sea, participating in the Cuba blockade, refueling warships off the coast of Vietnam, and ship's cooks gathering flying fish from the deck. He worked in navigation but knew his knots like no one else. His first ship was the battleship, USS Alabama; his ninth and last, the destroyer tender, USS Samuel Gompers. His loved ones remember him telling how his ship, the USS Manley, was struck broadside by a tremendous storm wave, nearly capsizing the vessel and claiming two fellow sailors' lives. Of all the stories he loved to tell, sea stories were his favorite. After retirement from the Navy, he worked in sales and quality control. He served as an LDS bishop in the San Diego California 2nd Ward, on four high councils, and as a high priest group leader. For the past 36 years, his home has been Provo, Utah. He always encouraged his children to pursue formal education. To show the way, after retirement, he earned an associate's degree. But his greatest legacies are his unflinching faith in God and love for family. He had a long life and enjoyed most all of it. His innate disposition was carefree. He often thought life was for whistling. Still, he cared, worried and provided for his own, and he loved them deeply. Fairon James Smith passed from this life August 23, 2016. He was 89.
Survived By: His wife, Carolyn; his children: Dwight, Lynel (Mark Christensen), Jenevre Thayne, Marcus (Sarah Cox), Christian (Patricia Bonney), and Renate; 28 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and half-brother, Aaron Johnson.
Preceded In Death By: His son, Le Grande Smith (Meredith Green); his father, Elisha Smith; mother, Elsie Leona (Nelson Bolinder Smith) Johnson; half- and step-siblings: Hilma Bolinder Dymock, Elaine Smith Geigle, Adele Smith Proctor, DeLoy Smith, Eldon Smith, Kelsey Johnson, Stanford Johnson, and Jay Johnson .
Services: North Park LDS Ward
Arranged: Walker Sanderson Funeral Home
Final Rest: Provo City Cemetery
Original obituary published by:
© Walker Sanderson Funeral Home | 2016
Bio compiled by: Annie Duckett Hundley
VETERAN
US NAVY
WORLD WAR II
VIETNAM
Early Life: Fairon James Smith was born August 12, 1927, in Murray, Utah, to Elisha Smith and Elsie Leona Nelson Bolinder Smith. A person of robust constitution, he weighed 13½ pounds at birth. He grew up with very little memory of his father, who died in 1932. His mother was a humble washerwoman. Lacking sufficient family support or guidance in his youth, he braved the world by running away from home repeatedly. He was blessed with a half-sister and brother-in-law, Elaine and Albert Geigle, who took him in, counseled him, and helped launch him in life.
Life's Work/Service/Interests: He enlisted in the United States Navy near the end of World War II. The discipline and purpose of military life became a foundation for him, as did, just a few years later, renewed activity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He looked sharp in uniform, which no doubt contributed to his marrying Carolyn Geneva Whiting in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in 1953. Together, they raised seven children in far flung places: Boston, MA; Bath, ME; Philadelphia, PA; Norfolk, VA; Fontainebleau, France; Key West, FL; Honolulu, HI; San Diego, CA and Provo, UT. He served in the Navy 27 years: a commissioned officer in 1960, a lieutenant upon retirement in 1972. He told stories of tugboats, buoys, collisions at sea, participating in the Cuba blockade, refueling warships off the coast of Vietnam, and ship's cooks gathering flying fish from the deck. He worked in navigation but knew his knots like no one else. His first ship was the battleship, USS Alabama; his ninth and last, the destroyer tender, USS Samuel Gompers. His loved ones remember him telling how his ship, the USS Manley, was struck broadside by a tremendous storm wave, nearly capsizing the vessel and claiming two fellow sailors' lives. Of all the stories he loved to tell, sea stories were his favorite. After retirement from the Navy, he worked in sales and quality control. He served as an LDS bishop in the San Diego California 2nd Ward, on four high councils, and as a high priest group leader. For the past 36 years, his home has been Provo, Utah. He always encouraged his children to pursue formal education. To show the way, after retirement, he earned an associate's degree. But his greatest legacies are his unflinching faith in God and love for family. He had a long life and enjoyed most all of it. His innate disposition was carefree. He often thought life was for whistling. Still, he cared, worried and provided for his own, and he loved them deeply. Fairon James Smith passed from this life August 23, 2016. He was 89.
Survived By: His wife, Carolyn; his children: Dwight, Lynel (Mark Christensen), Jenevre Thayne, Marcus (Sarah Cox), Christian (Patricia Bonney), and Renate; 28 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and half-brother, Aaron Johnson.
Preceded In Death By: His son, Le Grande Smith (Meredith Green); his father, Elisha Smith; mother, Elsie Leona (Nelson Bolinder Smith) Johnson; half- and step-siblings: Hilma Bolinder Dymock, Elaine Smith Geigle, Adele Smith Proctor, DeLoy Smith, Eldon Smith, Kelsey Johnson, Stanford Johnson, and Jay Johnson .
Services: North Park LDS Ward
Arranged: Walker Sanderson Funeral Home
Final Rest: Provo City Cemetery
Original obituary published by:
© Walker Sanderson Funeral Home | 2016
Bio compiled by: Annie Duckett Hundley
US NAVY
WORLD WAR II
VIETNAM
Early Life: Fairon James Smith was born August 12, 1927, in Murray, Utah, to Elisha Smith and Elsie Leona Nelson Bolinder Smith. A person of robust constitution, he weighed 13½ pounds at birth. He grew up with very little memory of his father, who died in 1932. His mother was a humble washerwoman. Lacking sufficient family support or guidance in his youth, he braved the world by running away from home repeatedly. He was blessed with a half-sister and brother-in-law, Elaine and Albert Geigle, who took him in, counseled him, and helped launch him in life.
Life's Work/Service/Interests: He enlisted in the United States Navy near the end of World War II. The discipline and purpose of military life became a foundation for him, as did, just a few years later, renewed activity in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He looked sharp in uniform, which no doubt contributed to his marrying Carolyn Geneva Whiting in the Salt Lake LDS Temple in 1953. Together, they raised seven children in far flung places: Boston, MA; Bath, ME; Philadelphia, PA; Norfolk, VA; Fontainebleau, France; Key West, FL; Honolulu, HI; San Diego, CA and Provo, UT. He served in the Navy 27 years: a commissioned officer in 1960, a lieutenant upon retirement in 1972. He told stories of tugboats, buoys, collisions at sea, participating in the Cuba blockade, refueling warships off the coast of Vietnam, and ship's cooks gathering flying fish from the deck. He worked in navigation but knew his knots like no one else. His first ship was the battleship, USS Alabama; his ninth and last, the destroyer tender, USS Samuel Gompers. His loved ones remember him telling how his ship, the USS Manley, was struck broadside by a tremendous storm wave, nearly capsizing the vessel and claiming two fellow sailors' lives. Of all the stories he loved to tell, sea stories were his favorite. After retirement from the Navy, he worked in sales and quality control. He served as an LDS bishop in the San Diego California 2nd Ward, on four high councils, and as a high priest group leader. For the past 36 years, his home has been Provo, Utah. He always encouraged his children to pursue formal education. To show the way, after retirement, he earned an associate's degree. But his greatest legacies are his unflinching faith in God and love for family. He had a long life and enjoyed most all of it. His innate disposition was carefree. He often thought life was for whistling. Still, he cared, worried and provided for his own, and he loved them deeply. Fairon James Smith passed from this life August 23, 2016. He was 89.
Survived By: His wife, Carolyn; his children: Dwight, Lynel (Mark Christensen), Jenevre Thayne, Marcus (Sarah Cox), Christian (Patricia Bonney), and Renate; 28 grandchildren; 18 great-grandchildren and half-brother, Aaron Johnson.
Preceded In Death By: His son, Le Grande Smith (Meredith Green); his father, Elisha Smith; mother, Elsie Leona (Nelson Bolinder Smith) Johnson; half- and step-siblings: Hilma Bolinder Dymock, Elaine Smith Geigle, Adele Smith Proctor, DeLoy Smith, Eldon Smith, Kelsey Johnson, Stanford Johnson, and Jay Johnson .
Services: North Park LDS Ward
Arranged: Walker Sanderson Funeral Home
Final Rest: Provo City Cemetery
Original obituary published by:
© Walker Sanderson Funeral Home | 2016
Bio compiled by: Annie Duckett Hundley
Gravesite Details
Interment 30 Aug 2016
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