Robert Elman Smading “Bob” was the only child of Elman Kendrick Smading and Marian Regina Maw Smading of Hoquiam, Washington. He was born in the K Street hospital in Hoquiam Washington on April 18, 1927, and grew up on Wheeler Street in the North end. He attended Lincoln Grade School and Hoquiam Junior and Senior High Schools.
Dad was a member of the Boy Scouts and spent his childhood playing outside, exploring his world, learning how to get into and out of trouble. He often spoke fondly of his childhood adventures, and we would have a good laugh! He worked part-time in his father’s furniture and appliance store at the corner of Seventh and Simpson during his high school years. He went to summer school so he could graduate from high school one year early. He then attended the University of Washington for one year prior to enlisting in the Navy. Since most men were away in the service, he had the opportunity to play the French Horn in the Seattle Symphony. He followed in his dad’s footsteps, entering the Navy six days before his 18th birthday in April 1945. World War II was nearly over, so he spent the next year circumnavigating the globe on the troopship USS General H. W. Butner (AP-113). He was particularly affected by the transport of Jewish death camp survivors. He revealed and talked about this later in life.
Between his discharge from the Navy in 1946 and being called up for the Korean war in 1950, he attended Grays Harbor College and later the University of Washington where he majored in engineering physics.
In 1951, he married Emily Karagianis just before being called back to active duty by the Navy for the Korean war. After his discharge, the couple bought their first home on K Street in Hoquiam where they lived until 1960 when they and their three children, Stephen, Susan and Sally, moved into their dream home on Lawrence Drive in Hoquiam. In 1972, the family left Hoquiam for Eugene, Oregon and then in 1974 moved to Bellevue, Washington. Dad remained in their Bellevue home until 2021 when he moved into assisted living after a short hospitalization.
Dad was self-employed as an electrical and communications engineer early in his career, specializing in two-way radio communication for most of the Grays Harbor area logging companies. At the same time, he was the engineer at both Aberdeen radio stations, KBKW and KXRO. Later he was a co-owner of Rad-Com Electronics in Aberdeen. After leaving Grays Harbor in 1972, he spent two years at Smith Telecommunications in Eugene, Oregon. From 1974 to 1985, he was an independent consulting engineer in private practice in the Seattle/Bellevue area. During this period, he became a Registered Professional Engineer (Electrical Engineering) in the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Montana and Colorado. From 1985 to 2003 he was an Associate Technical Fellow and Senior Principal Scientist at Boeing, from where he retired at the age of 75.
In his personal life, he loved classical music and was an expert pianist and drummer. He obtained a single engine airplane pilot license in the early 1960s. He held memberships in various Masonic Bodies and The Shrine. He also belonged to The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (life senior member), and the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band. After retiring, he took up genealogy, documented his Irish ancestry, and was granted Irish citizenship as a result. He got the family into hiking and skiing in the 1960s, and later turned his attention to the family property at Hood Canal where he spent his spare time relaxing by working on the property.
Dad’s final five days were spent at Evergreen Health Hospice in Kirkland where he passed away in his sleep peacefully in the early morning hours of Oct. 10, 2023. Emily, his wife of 71 years, preceded him in death by eight months. He is survived by his three children, Stephen Smading (Flora), Susan Smading Wagner (Robert), and Sally Smading Zapata. His six grandchildren, Stephanie Verkamp (Eric), Elena Wagner (Andrew Withnell), Michael Smading (Sylvia), Alexandra Benavente (Alan), Samuel Wagner, and Mitchell Smading and his six great-grandchildren, Theodore Verkamp, Theia Smading, Olivia Smading, Abigail Verkamp, Stella Withnell and Leio Benavente.
Dad requested there be no funeral. In lieu of flowers, his preference is that you donate to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, Washington State Parks Foundation, the National Parks Foundation or the Keith Highlanders Pipe Band. A celebration of life will be held at a time and place to be determined.
