William Manuel Smith

William Manuel Smith, more affectionately known as "Bill," was born on January 2, 1924 in St. Paul Minnesota. His family eventually moved to the Chicago area where he grew up.

In 1942, shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Bill enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps (it is important to note that he did not wait for the draft but volunteered for duty).

Bill was a Rifleman Scout Corporal, whose role it was to "land and clear" the islands in the South Pacific. The Marines would then secure the "beach head" to set up air fields and camps, a very dangerous job as Bill discovered on his very first assignment on the bloody island of Tarawa in November of 1943.

Tarawa is a small 1.5 mile long atoll that unexpectedly held 3,000 Japanese soldiers, some even tunneled underground. Full of miscalculations and command errors, the advance Marines suffered drowning in high surf, injury and death at the hands of unexpected Japanese strongholds, including 16 foot tall wooden walls erected on the beaches. Bill owes his life to the fact that his transport was redirected to the north side of the island to land and clear successfully, and to come to the aid of fellow Marines.

But Bill does have some fond memories of those years, particularly of the New Zealand families who housed and fed the troops outside of Wellington where the Marines were stationed in 1943. Bill had a particularly funny memory of being awakened in the mornings by careful knocks on the door followed by the words, "Would you like a cup of tea, sir?" Bill remembered, "The New Zealanders loved us because they were very fearful of Japanese attack as their men were away from home fighting in Africa." Bill truly valued his experiences as a young man, in different conditions and countries, with the many friends he made.

Bill served in the Marines through 1944 when he took a bullet in his spine during front line combat on the island of Saipan. Bill's nearly fatal battle wound won him the "Purple Heart" but left him paralyzed for 7 months and resulted in a 100% disability for 7 years.

Following his discharge from the Marines, Bill trained in the performing arts and worked in regional theater in the Chicago area, and then in Hollywood. After moving to California Bill met, fell in love with, and married Deloris. He went on to invest in real estate and once even owned a juke box route. Later, he redirected his career toward public relations, where he excelled and worked for Chicago Title Insurance for the next 25 years until he retired.

Bill will be best remembered by his family and all of the people who were fortunate enough to have known him. Always thinking of others first, Bill was the perfect father, grandfather, father in law and friend. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to find anyone who could say the he ever spoke ill of another person.

Although brave and courageous, Bill disliked confrontation. He was a peaceful man who was always there if someone needed help but was never intrusive or confrontational. When someone once commented that he was one of the nicest people they knew, Bill took no personal credit for this. He simply replied, "I got that from my father, he was the nicest person I have ever known." a typically modest response from a very good and gentle man.

Bill will be profoundly missed by his daughter, Penny, her husband, Peter, his grandchildren, Peter, Christopher and Katherine, his great grandson, Max, his goddaughter, Merry Ellen, and all of his family and friends.

There is a saying that goes, "Our life is God's gift to us, what we do with it is our gift to God." Anyone who has ever known Bill Smith would say, without hesitation, that he has presented God with a most wonderful gift.