Ronald Everett Smith

Brief Life History of Ronald Everett

When Ronald Everett Smith was born on 26 March 1917, in Sanborn, O'Brien, Iowa, United States, his father, Walter William Smith, was 24 and his mother, Mildred Leona Gross, was 20. He married Mildred Elzora Thornton on 26 April 1941, in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, United States. They were the parents of at least 2 sons. He lived in O'Brien, Iowa, United States in 1925 and Franklin Township, O'Brien, Iowa, United States in 1930. He died on 8 October 1981, in Garner, Hancock, Iowa, United States, at the age of 64, and was buried in Concord Cemetery, Concord Township, Hancock, Iowa, United States.

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Family Time Line

Ronald Everett Smith
1917–1981
Mildred Elzora Thornton
1920–2013
Marriage: 26 April 1941
Alan W Smith
1952–1952
Alan Wayne Smith
1952–2006

Sources (12)

  • Ronald Smith in household of Walter W Smith, "Iowa State Census, 1925"
  • Ronald Smith, "Iowa, County Births, 1880-1935"
  • Ronald E Smith, "Iowa, Marriage Records, 1941-1951"

World Events (8)

1918 · Attempting to Stop the War

To end World War I, President Wilson created a list of principles to be used as negotiations for peace among the nations. Known as The Fourteen Points, the principles were outlined in a speech on war aimed toward the idea of peace but most of the Allied forces were skeptical of this Wilsonian idealism.

1922 · Oldest radio station west of the Mississippi

The Karlowa Radio Corporation, in Davenport, was issued a new license for broadcasting and with it they were randomly assigned call letters of WOC. The small studio was the first to reach the Iowa area and was identified as one of 21 stations that were desirable because of coverage area and performance. In September 1927, WOC became a member of the new NBC radio network and still is today. In 1932, Ronald Reagan got his first broadcasting job at WOC as a sportscaster and he returned in 1988 after his presidency tour. WOC is the oldest surviving broadcasting station in the middle Mississippi Valley and was the first to keep logs on their electrical consumption and their on-air programming.

1934 · The Grout Museum

The museum started as a private collection given to the city by Henry W. Grout. Today it is still a nonprofit educational museum that helps engage students and all people from the surrounding communities.

Name Meaning

English and Scottish: occupational name denoting a worker in metal, especially iron, such as a blacksmith or farrier, from Middle English smith ‘smith’ (Old English smith, probably a derivative of smītan ‘to strike, hammer’). Early examples are also found in the Latin form Faber . Metal-working was one of the earliest occupations for which specialist skills were required, and its importance ensured that this term and its equivalents in other languages were the most widespread of all occupational surnames in Europe. Medieval smiths were important not only in making horseshoes, plowshares, and other domestic articles, but above all for their skill in forging swords, other weapons, and armor. This is also the most frequent of all surnames in the US. It is very common among African Americans and Native Americans (see also 5 below). This surname (in any of the two possible English senses; see also below) is also found in Haiti. See also Smither .

English: from Middle English smithe ‘smithy, forge’ (Old English smiththe). The surname may be topographic, for someone who lived in or by a blacksmith's shop, occupational, for someone who worked in one, or habitational, from a place so named, such as Smitha in King's Nympton (Devon). Compare Smithey .

Irish and Scottish: sometimes adopted for Gaelic Mac Gobhann, Irish Mac Gabhann ‘son of the smith’. See McGowan .

Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.

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