Robert Leslie Smith, M.D., passed away Sunday, March 27, 2016, at the Peyton Hospice House in Fairlea, WV.
Dr. Smith was born March 4, 1921, in Keithsburg, IL, son of Elmer Edwin and Florence Logan Smith.
Robert Smith and his wife, Doris Domeij Smith, were both graduates of Aledo High School, Class of 1938. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Bradley University in Peoria, IL. He was awarded his M.D. from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago in 1944 and received a master’s degree in public health and tropical medicine from Tulane University in New Orleans in 1948.
After completing a 25-year career in the U.S. Public Health Service, retiring as a U.S. Army veteran and assistant surgeon general, he served the United Mine Workers Health and Retirement Fund as an area medical administrator for seven years, and for the following eight years, was assistant dean for continuing medical education at West Virginia University School of Medicine in Morgantown, WV.
Smith pursued many interests, including painting and writing poetry. He wrote a two-act play on the life of and poetry of Robert Frost, which he performed several times during the 1980s, initially at WVU to help establish a scholarship for medical students who showed an interest in the humanities.
His retirement years were enjoyed with Doris, his wife of nearly 70 years, in New Smyrna Beach, FL, and then in DeLand, FL, where they were residents of the Good Samaritan Lutheran Retirement Community. He moved to Lewisburg, WV, following his wife’s death in 2012.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Doris Domeij Smith; their infant daughter, Leslie; grandchildren, Jesse Smith and Mackenzie Gilbert; brother, Frank Smith; and sister, Martha Bonynge.
Survivors include his sons, Steven (Carol) of La Quinta, CA, and Martin (Sharon) of Westerville, OH; his daughters, Julia Tranner (Todd) of Woodland Hills, CA, and Melanie Johnson (Brandon) of Lewisburg; grandchildren, Matthew Smith, Lesley Kelley, Kyle Gilbert, Robert Gilbert, Parker Gilbert, Dashiell Tranner, Isabelle Tranner, Grace Johnson, and Mary Johnson; great-grandchildren, Will, Jake, and Kate Smith, Issac Kelley, and Mia Gilbert; and his brother, Kenneth Smith (Julia) of Moline, IL.
A memorial service to honor Dr. Smith’s life will be held at the Lewisburg United Methodist Church on Saturday, April 23, 2016, at 2 PM. His remains will be buried next to his wife’s and daughter’s in Aledo.
Online condolences may be made by visiting www.WallaceandWallaceFH.com
Wallace & Wallace Funeral Home in Lewisburg is in charge of arrangements.
Obituary originally published in the April 1, 2016, edition of The West Virginia Daily News.
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