Today would have been my Grandpa Smiths 105th birthday. He was a character and very supportive of my musical endeavors. I miss him dearly. Kurt Smith Lenora Smith Richter Burt E Smith Tarney Smith Tribute to Harvey S. Smith A Tribute to Harvey S. Smith as delivered by his son, Phillip H. Smith, at his graveside on February 23, 1998 Harvey Sylvester Smith was born March 31, 1909 at Canaan, Gasconade County, Missouri. He was raised on the farm of Scipio and Eudora, his parents. He attended school at Immaculate Conception in Owensville, Missouri. He worked at various jobs, principally the Brown Shoe Factory in Owensville, where he met and fell in love with Mildred Adcock of Tuscumbia, Missouri. They were joined in holy wedlock at St. Mary’s Church in Mary’s Home, Missouri, on December 26, 1931. They were blessed with the birth of a daughter, Joyce Audrey, September 2, 1932. Shortly after, the little family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where Harvey obtained employment at the Cheverolet Factory. They lived in St. Louis about two years. This being the height of the Great Depression, the factory cut back production and laid off most of the employees. They returned to the farm of Mildred’s parents, Samuel and Elizabeth Adcock in Miller County, where Mildred, who was once again with child, gave birth to a son, Phillip Harvey, June 17, 1935. Harvey found employment in the Miller County area on the “Farm to Market” road construction projects. Mildred had become ill and was hospitalized at Jefferson City, the nearest medical facility. Harvey later worked for the company that installed the poles and wire cables (commonly known as the “Hi-Line”) from the new Bagnell Dam to the Union Electric Company Station at St. Louis. Upon completion of the Hi-Line in about 1939, he once again went to work at the shoe factory in Owensville. Mildred worked there as well. They bought a small house where Harvey, with the help of some of his brothers and friends, built a large addition. The expanded building was outfitted as a dormitory and dining room for male boarders who worked at the shoe factory. Just after the Second World War began, in early 1942, Harvey started work in St. Louis again at what was commonly known as the “Small Arms Plant,” where ammunition was made for military use. Shortly thereafter, Harvey and Mildred purchased a house at 5963 Romaine Place. The family moved there and became members of the parish, St. Barbara’s, where their children attended school. They later relocated a short distance away to a different home at 5917 Theodosia Avenue, still in St. Barbara’s Parish. The Small Arms Plant closed after the end of World War II, and Harvey found a position at Wagner Electric Company as a millwright for the maintenance department, similar to that he had previously at Small Arms. While working at Small Arms and later at Wagner, Harvey became active in the labor unions. Very early on, Harvey became aware that the Communist Party was infiltrating the labor unions of this country in an attempt to subvert the government. By controlling the labor force, they hoped to take control of the country. In contrast to current thinking, this was a real threat. He fought this in the union meetings, in the courts, and with his physical force. His life was in danger. He was assaulted and injured several times, to the point that he carried a pistol to protect himself. This proved a good tactic as he warded off attacks on two occasions by flourishing this weapon. Subsequent to this, threats were made against him, his family, friends and property. Secret meetings were held in his basement. Plans were made by Harvey and the other leaders, and through a protracted series of events (some frightening or exciting depending on your point of view), a new union was formed. Through this organization and the courts, the authority to represent the labor force was wrested from Communist control. This pattern was used throughout the country to free other local unions of this threat. Harvey gained the respect of many through his forthrightness and courage in these events. He was appointed and elected to a number of offices in the local as well as national union organization. Harvey was asked to serve as an organizer of new labor unions in the Indiana and Kentucky areas, and was successfully employed in that endeavor for approximately two years. He was well regarded and respected when he left to resume his prior occupation at Wagner Electric. Once back to work at his old job, he threw himself wholeheartedly into the task of improving the workers’ conditions applying to wages, benefits, safety and other related matters. Harvey was consistently re-elected to serve on the contract negotiating committee because the “rank and file” (as they were called) knew that he got results. Many of his innovative ideas were accepted, and were beneficial to the workers and company alike. His efforts to form a program to train apprentices for skilled factory work came to the attention of federal employees in the Bureau of Apprenticeship Training (BAT), a division of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). A new job title was conceived and put into effect by BAT, and Harvey was installed in that capacity at about double his former salary. He remained in this position for 18 months before resigning, because he felt that, due to government red tape, he could accomplish more for workers back at his old job. He continued in this manner, accomplishing many things that, as with all the things mentioned before, he was well satisfied with. He was very proud of the gains he had made for working people and spoke of them often. Harvey had a very bad accident on the job as a millwright in 1973, when he was 63 years old. He was in a coma for several days, and hospitalized a number of weeks thereafter. We almost lost him then. This was very traumatic and convinced him to retire to his home in Chesterfield, where he had moved with his wife Mildred, daughter Joyce and son Phillip in May of 1952. Mildred had cut off a foot in a lawnmower accident in May of 1958, and her health faded slowly from that time until she went to be with Jesus in February, 1982. Previously, Harvey’s daughter Joyce, who had been married about one year, passed away, as well as her eight month old unborn son. This occurred in July, 1962. Harvey bore these unsettling events bravely. Harvey enjoyed many varieties of activities, among them the breeding and raising of registered beagle hounds and bee keeping. He stopped his kennel operation after disease ravaged his dogs and he could no longer bear to see the animals he loved sick and dying. He was forced to divest himself of his bees and hives after being stung a number of times, until finally one last sting almost caused his demise. Harvey had been a musician in his youth, playing fiddle, guitar and calling square dances. When his oldest granddaughter, Mona, started violin lessons, his interest in music was rekindled. He began to collect old violins, banjos, guitars and mandolins, and practiced to re-sharpen his playing skills on these instruments. He enjoyed this very much and never failed to attend any musical presentations in which his grandchildren were performing. Harvey also enjoyed, and with the help of Tarney, Phil’s wife, became quite proficient at researching family history. He led a varied and interesting life, many things of which the details are too numerous to mention here. Suffice it to say, his life was a very full one. Harvey’s last years were clouded by his failing mental capacity, and then a recent fall that caused him to be hospitalized for a broken leg. He was strong, courageous and brave, but finally succumbed to the inevitable in the early morning hours of February 21, 1998, at St. John’s Nursing Care Facility in St. Louis County, Missouri, near the land grant his ancestors had first settled in 1798. He was 88 years old. He is survived by his son Phil, and Phil’s wife Tarney, four grandchildren, Mona, Kurt, Lenora and Burt, six great-grandchildren, Matthew, Mary, Melinda, Jimmy (Mona’s children), Kyle and Billy (Kurt’s children), two sisters-in-law, Ava Smith and Edna Adcock, nieces, nephews and many friends.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Apr 2014 02:03:31 +0000