Gail Dean Smith was born October 16, 1927, the son of Thomas and Eunice (Thomas) Smith. He was born in his mother's parents' (Effie and John Thomas) farm home two miles south of Lucas, Iowa. Gail lived with his parents and two older brothers, Evert and Cecil, on several farms in southern Iowa near Chariton and attended several one room country schools. The last one was Highland Country School.

On February 14, 1938, the family moved 250 miles north to the Cooleyville farm one mile east of Ellendale, Minnesota. Gail attended Ellendale Consolidated School which taught grades 1 through 12. He worked with his family feeding the cows, hogs, horses, and chickens; and milked cows, gathered eggs, split wood for the stoves, and helped cook some meals. The family attended Ellendale Methodist Church.

In 1943 the family moved to a farm 5 miles north of Ellendale. He loved to play football, basketball, softball, and baseball and attended the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF) at the Ellendale Methodist Church every Sunday night. In June 1946 he graduated from Ellendale High School.

On December 12, 1946, he started college at Mankato State in Mankato, MN. There he served as an assistant for two physics professors, helped build the St. Joseph Hospital, a million-bushel soybean storage silo for Archer-Daniels Midland Company, drove taxicab, was tutor at college, and was pastor of the Eagle Lake Methodist Church.

In June 1950 he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Physics, a major in Chemistry and a minor in Mathematics.

In 1950-51 he continued studying Physics in graduate school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. He also served as an assistant professor and as a tutor.

December 17, 1950, he married the love of his life, Myrna Eunice Rasmusen, in the Tracy Lutheran Church in Tracy, MN. They celebrated their 74th anniversary in Lusby, MD on December 17, 2024.

In June 1951, with his father, Thomas Hugh Smith, they started the Smith-Thomas Family Reunion in Ames, Iowa. Those reunions are still going but are being held in Indianola, Iowa.

On June 25, 1951, he started his first job as an Electronic Engineer at the Naval Ordnance Lab in White Oak, Maryland. He designed electronic equipment to measure the rate of explosion for explosives like TNT. He designed, constructed, and tested electronic instruments and was the first to measure the velocity of the shock wave in water, air, and ground of an atomic bomb and 6 hydrogen bombs at Bikini Atoll in 1954. Received a patent for a voltage regulated power system.

Along with his wife Myrna, daughter Shirley, and son Martin, he borrowed a tent in the 1960's and started camping and sightseeing in all states except Hawaii. Gail and Myrna eventually traveled to Hawaii completing seeing all 50 states. On one of their many trips, Gail and Myrna helped refurbish the replica of the Wright Brothers' plane at the Wright Brothers National Memorial and Museum in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.



He served on the governing board at the Millian Memorial Methodist Church in Rockville, MD and taught an adult Bible class on the New Testament from the book of Matthew to Revelation. All four members of his family attended church and Sunday School nearly all their lives, even while traveling on vacation.

At Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD (1961-1965) he designed and constructed electronic instruments for twelve of the earliest satellites, which were launched into orbit to study outer space and the Earth. He also served on the Board of Civil Service Examiners for NASA.

He also served on the governing board of the Berwyn Presbyterian Church and taught the adult Bible class from the Book of Matthew to Revelation.

At Fairchild Hiller in Germantown, MD (1965-67), he designed electronic instruments for the Advanced Orbiting Solar System Satellite and for the F-104 fighter airplane.

At Chesapeake Instruments in Shadyside, MD (1967-70) he designed electronic instruments for a mile-long Towed Array Sonar System to detect submarines at a distance of 100 miles. That system was still in use in 2015. He also designed Hindsight, which enables nuclear submarine commanders to track things behind the sub.

In the 1970's he started AmErgy Corp and designed solar energy systems for homes and businesses and installed them in 3 states and Washington, DC.

He started and operated the American Engineering Association to improve the reputation, salary, and job security of all engineers like the AMA has done for medical physicians.

As VP of Akroex Corp. in Edgewater, MD, he helped engineer and build five gigantic water test tanks at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Today those are in the Admiral Rickover building at the Naval Academy.

With Martin Marrietta of Washington, DC (1970), he reviewed the technology and wrote the US government proposals for technical studies with the new Landsat Satellite to study planet Earth. With the US Department of Transportation in Langley, VA (1970-77), he designed, installed, and operated Washington, DC's first computerized traffic control system and published several technical papers about using the latest technology to improve auto traffic in large cities.

At NASA headquarters (1977-83) in Washington, DC he designed and awarded contracts to private industry for a 35 mm camera, a video camera, solar array and conversion and controls for the Space Shuttle. After they encountered problems with the tiles on an early flight, they inspected the outside of the shuttle while in orbit with that video camera.

He also designed and awarded a contract to build a computer for the three space shuttles' main engines (SSME). They were mounted on the side of the engines, so they had to endure the heat and vibration of the engines during the launch.

Before he retired from NASA on July 31, 1983, he had two lapel pins made with the space shuttle on them. These were made from old jewelry. One was for him and the other was for his lovely wife, Myrna. Then he had a diamond inserted into the wing of the space shuttle.

In all of his working career, he wrote 56 technical papers and had them all published.

In 1985 he moved back to Minnesota to be with his parents and wife's parents for their last years. He helped start and build the Day Break Church in Owatonna, MN.

In 2002 he moved to Lusby, Maryland, to be with his daughter, Shirley Conway, his son, Martin Smith, and their families. He became an active member of the Olivet Methodist Church in Lusby, MD.

On September 30, 2010, he was elected King of Calvert County, Maryland, and was crowned "The Silver Fox" at the County Fair. That's why he still has silver hair.



Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great-grandfather, scientist, engineer, photographer, storyteller, jokester, videographer, and writer of family stories passed away peacefully on Wednesday, July 2, 2025. He will forever be missed by his family and friends for his work as a NASA engineer.

Gail is survived by his wife Myrna Eunice Rasmusen Smith of Lusby, Maryland; daughter Shirley and her husband William Conway of Lusby, Maryland; son Martin and his wife Caroline Smith of Middletown, Delaware; four grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren, and five great-great-grandchildren.

Greeting him in heaven are his mother, Eunice Thomas Smith; father, Thomas Hugh Smith; and brothers, Evert Earl Smith and Cecil Howard Smith.


Visitation

Wednesday, July 9, 2025
2-3 PM
Olivet United Methodist Church
13575 Olivet Road Lusby, MD 20657

Services

Wednesday, July 9, 2025
3 PM
Olivet United Methodist Church
13575 Olivet Road Lusby, MD 20657

Interment

at a later date in Minnesota