Scott Smith

Scott Henry Smith
November 9, 1948 - November 24, 2011


Scott Henry Smith, 63, of Waco, passed away Thursday, November 25, 2011 at Scott & White Hospital. Mass of Christian burial will be 10 a.m. Wednesday, November 30, 2011 at St. Louis Catholic Church with Father John Guzaldo as celebrant. Burial will follow at Rosemound Cemetery. The Rosary will be recited 6 p.m. Tuesday at OakCrest Funeral Home, 4520 Bosque Blvd.

Scott was born November 9, 1948 in Peoria, Illinois, but was raised around Oyster Creek, Clute and Houston, Texas. He entered the US Army in 1967 and had basic training in Fort Polk, La. He attended airborne jump school in Fort Benning, Ga. He was to be shipped to Viet Nam with the 101st Airborne, but they were slow in deploying, so he went over with the 173rd Airborne Brigade and served there from November 1967 until August 1968 where he was wounded in action.

After a lengthy recovery at BAMC at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He returned to Fort Sam Houston for medic training where he met his wife of 42 years, Augustine (Tina) Trzuskot, who was also a medic in the Women's Army Corp. He attended and graduated from the University of Houston in 1980 with a degree in accounting while working as a mail carrier. He worked extensively in government contracting among which were employers as McEVOY and FMC corporations in Houston; space shuttle rocket manufacturer, Morton Thiokol in Brigham City, Utah; Beech Aircraft in Wichita, Kansas; Harris RF Communications in Rochester, New York and finally L3 Communications in Waco.

During Scott's retirement, he was very active in many veterans' organizations and causes. He volunteered at the Waco VA Hospital's blind rehab program by escorting veterans to various appointments as well as driving homeless veterans from McLennan and Bell counties to get treatment and help.

He was a member of the Veteran's Advisory Council and served one term as president of McLennan County Veteran's Association. He also served one year as vice president and was re-elected as president for the 4th year with Texas Chapter 13 of 173rd Airborne Brigade Association. He remained active to the very end in fighting for all veterans' needs.

He enjoyed traveling with his wife and three granddaughters all over the US and Canada, but loved it most of all when he helped his then five year old granddaughter, Julie, catch the biggest fish of her life (a pre-historic dog fish) right off the dock of his brother-in- law's property at Lake Simcoe, Canada.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Bernice Waller and step father, Jack Grant and father, Henry H. Smith.

Scott leaves behind his wife, Tina; sons, David Smith of Waco and Erik Smith and his wife, Kristen; granddaughters, Alyson, 9, Julie, 7 and Kaleigh, 3 all of Mobile, Alabama; sisters, Mayme Ogilvie of Elm Mott, Susan Sampson and husband, Ray of Hibbing, Minnesota; brother-in-laws, Tadek Trzuskot and wife, Krystyna, Eugeniusz Trzuskot and wife, Wieska, Danuta Palkowski and Elizabeth Tworzydho all of Canada; Sister of the order of Seraphim, Rafata Trzuskot; sister-in-law, Bogumila Bednarz, Zofia Madej and husband, Heniek and brother-in-law, Sylvester Trzuskot and wife, Dorota of Poland; and numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews all over the world.

Pallbearers will be Gene Boedecker, John Barthelemy, Robert Gonzales, Harold Brent, Eric Hitchcock, Paul Reed, Jim Savell, and John Householder.

The family requests no flowers, but suggests memorials be made to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, 2224 Walsh Tarlton Lane, Suite 200, Austin, Texas 78746 or www.cstx.wish.org