Gail C. Smith ’43

Gail C. Smith ’43 died May 16, 2010. Gail grew up in Fairfield, Connecticut. At Dartmouth Gail was president of the rowing club—where he earned his D—and a member of the Outing Club, the Glee Club and manager of the dormitory intramural program. He majored in political science. After Dartmouth Gail joined the Marine Corps as a fighter pilot. In 1943 he married Mary Mather, with whom he had four children. Called back into action during the Korean War, he served as a major in command of a Marine Corps fighter squadron. Following the war he was a test pilot for the Navy and Grumman Aircraft, where he crossed paths with John Glen and Alan Shepherd. Returning to civilian life, Gail worked for General Electric and later Sperry/Remington Rand, where he was marketing director of the semiconductor division. Then a move to New Hampshire—with a new wife, Elizabeth, and three stepchildren—where he established his own business, Marketing International Inc. In 1976, after Elizabeth’s death, he moved to California, where he worked in the international marketing of sporting goods and served as an officer and director of Racquet Strings Inc. He later married again, and he and Lura moved to Crowley, Texas. During Gail’s years in the East he was a member of the New York City and Bridgeport, Connecticut, Dartmouth clubs. Gail is survived by four children, three stepchildren, including Ted Kloth ’68, and their families.