LEONARD GLENN SMITH EULOGY - PART II

The continuation of JERRY EOFF's eulogy that he presented at GLENN's memorial service.

"Glenn was obviously an impressive scholar. A substitute teacher had to step in after the high school coach resigned. I was told by that teacher that Glenn was one of four boys in that Civics class that he really worried about. He guessed that he worried for nothing, because all four of them obtained doctor’s degrees in some field. 

"Did I mention that Glenn was hard headed? He was not good at taking an elder’s opinion that something might be dangerous. When he was in Abilene Christian College, he decided that he should be a cowboy and signed up to ride a bull in a collegiate rodeo. Considering that he had spent little time even on a horse, we won’t do more than speculate on how long the bull ride lasted. That took care of the cowboy life. (Editor: Glenn wrote about this experience in an early post on our Class blog: HE DIDN'T GET THE JOB)

(No, it's not Glenn. Wish I had the picture of his ride!)

"He learned a little better from his would be parachute jumping experience. While still in high school, he decided it would be cool to step out of a perfectly performing airplane at 8,000 feet. He went so far as to mail order a parachute. He carried that around a couple of airports trying to find someone to take him up to jump. Fortunately none of the men who were tough enough to have been flying combat ten or eleven years before, would even consider the idea. His change of heart about parachutes came shortly after having attended a jumping exhibition during which he witnessed a rather loud mishap. 

"Glenn was patriotic. He joined the National Guard along with several classmates, again while in high school. Later, while in ACC, he read about a U.S. Marine Platoon Leader School and decided that was for him.  Trying to be the gung-ho Marine he immediately set out to polish his insignia which was all yucky black when they gave it to him. Thinking it must have been part of the basic training he set out to get them shiny. We worked on those things for hours, with elbow grease and any other chemical we thought might work. All we could get was a scratchy reddish color. Then one of us looked it up and discovered that the Marines' insignia is supposed to be a black insignia. I’m not sure where he got an insignia to replace those items. He went to a couple of summer camps. His opinion of Marine Corps training? While in high school, we had made a trip to Philmont Scout Camp in New Mexico. This trek consisted of two weeks on the trail, learning to camp, cook, learn to handle and pack burros, and many other outdoor skills. We had several in our group who decided that we needed to set records. As a result there were several days that, after having hiked four or five miles over steep mountain trails, we would set off and hike four or five miles to the next camp – in the dark of night. Glenn’s reaction to Marine night hikes was,'Bah! These are nothing! I’ve been to Philmont!'

(Looks pretty rugged, doesn't it? Philmont BSA hikers.)

"When we reached ACC we both continued our previous direction of taking the math and science classes, but neither one of us were math scholars and one day he informed me that he had decided he should study something he enjoyed and would major in history. He went on to finish his degree in three and a half years and he went on to Trinity University. He taught in a Jr. High in San Antonio while he earned his Master’s degree. He then applied for a job at Oklahoma Christian College and became THE history department. He felt that he really shouldn’t be pressured to donate his salary back to the college, left at year’s end, and enrolled in the University of Oklahoma to complete his Doctor of Philosophy degree. After that, he moved off north of the Mason-Dixon Line and, being before the internet, we pretty much lost contact.

"In the email from a high school classmate informing me of his death, it was mentioned that Glenn had taken several hundred dollars out of his own pocket to have histories of the Graduates of Ballinger High School, Class of 1957, printed and bound, and specified that it not be known that he did so. This is typical of Glenn. I know of at least two youths that he paid a big portion, if not all, of their college education. I suspect that is only the tip of the iceberg of his generosity, extending in many directions. 

"I feel this sense of giving came from two things. One, he was a dedicated Christian during his developmental years, even having gone with Lemoine Lewis, an ACC history professor, on short missionary trips to Monterrey and Torreon, Coah., Mexico. The second, and equally important thing was a secular book. He commented to me several times about having read the Lloyd Douglas book titled MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION. Those who may have also read it will know that it deals with the death of a medical doctor who was killed by the carelessness of another man. The man responsible learned from the widow that the doctor had done many charitable acts in secret. He had wanted those gifts to not be known to anyone at any time. I feel that that concept made a deep impression on Glenn and affected his future actions. 

"I feel that Glenn paid well for the air he breathed here on earth and has gone on to see what’s to be learned just over that hill ahead."

Until we all meet again...

Rest in Peace, Glenn,
Marilyn