March 7, 2008  

WATERTOWN, N.Y.  —  Dr. Lawrence R. Smith, Jr., MD, 77, retired colonel of the Air Force, died Dec. 27, in Colorado Springs, Colo.

A graveside service will be held 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 26, at Glenwood Cemetery, town of Watertown.

Arrangements are with Cummings Funeral Service, Inc., Watertown.

Born June 9, 1930, in Watertown, the son of Dr. Lawrence R. and Margaret F. Wilson Smith, he graduated from Watertown High School in 1947, and from Cornell University with a B.A. in 1951.

He entered the Air Force. While serving, he attended New York Medical College, graduating with a degree in Medicine and Surgery. After medical school, he served four years in Iraq, with the Military Aid Assistance Group.

He returned to the U. S. and commanded the hospital at March Air Force Base, Riverside, Calif., and the Norton Air Force Base, Norton, Calif. He then commanded the hospital at Osan Air Force Base in Korea, then the Scott Air Force Base, E. St. Louis, Illinois, and then commanded the Air Force Medical Center on Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. After 34 years serving in a variety of stateside and overseas location, he retired as a colonel in 1985.

After his retirement, he stayed in Dayton, doing clinical and private duty work. He then moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., and joined the S. E. T. Family Medical Clinics in 1998, where he was on the board of directors and was the medical director.

He was a communicant of Scared Heart Church, Colorado Springs, and was very active in church activities and youth ministries. He was an instructor of Red Cross Water Safety and volunteered at the Marion House Soup Kitchen, Colorado Springs. He was an orphanage Physician at numerous locations, and had received many awards and citations from the Air Force.

Surviving are a brother, John J. Smith, Watertown; a sister and her husband, Carolyn A. and David Viau, Liverpool; and his nieces, nephews, and cousins.

His brother, Michael A. Smith, died on May 15, 2004.

Obituary provided by Cummings Funeral Service and Newzjunky.com, Watertown, N.Y.