RICHARDSON – At the age of 102, WWII Navy Veteran Charles Smith is one of the oldest residents in Richardson.
For more than ten decades he’s had a front row seat to our growing community. Although, many of his friends went to Miss Belle’s House, a private school designated a Texas historic landmark in 1982, Smith attended a schoolhouse on Greenville Avenue now home to the Richardson ISD Administration Offices.
His mom, Ophie, was part of the Huffhines family. She was a homemaker, while dad was an oil well equipment maker. Some of his cousins worked as volunteer firefighters.
For a short time, Smith lived with his grandparents, James Barry and Jane Elizabeth Smith, and even helped celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary.
Smith met his future wife, Rose Ann Julian at school and both graduated in 1938. A few years later, he began a job with his and remembers taking the interurban to work and other places.
Smith, who has lived through 18 U.S. presidents still remembers his younger days from hunting to playing football. In his later years, he enjoyed some tee time at Sherrill Park Golf Course and he even played tennis.
Now-a-days, Smith enjoys spending time with his grandson and the rest of his family, looking at old pictures and going down memory lane.
