Pub. 59 2018-2019 Issue 4

27 SUMMER 2019 W.C. “Smitty” Smith O n Sunday night, April 28, Mike Smith inducted his father, W.C. “Smitt y” Smith into the TADA Hall of Legends. Only the 19th inductee in the association’s history, Smitty embodies everything that is good about a Texas franchised dealer. A devoted family man, an in- dustry leader, a community volunteer and part of the bedrock of TADA for decades, the following are Mike Smith’s comments regarding his father and the remarkable Smith family: William C. Smith Jr., better known as “Smitty,” was born the 25th of February, 1921 in Yorktown, Texas. He lived a full life for 90 years and passed away in July of 2011. Our family has been in the automobile business for 102 years. In 1917, Smitty’s father, W. C. Smith, Sr., established Yorktown Motor Company, and became a Chevrolet – Cadillac dealer. A few years later he exchanged the Cadillac franchise for Buick. TADA Legend As young boys growing up in Yorktown, Smitty and his brother Newton worked at the dealership, which also had a full service gas station in front of the showroom. Smitty graduated from Yorktown High School, where he said his class was so small… that he not only played football, but at halftime, he played in the band. The following year he was off to Austin and the University of Texas. He was a member of the ATO fraternity where he was elected the house manager for two years. Smitty was also one of the early members of the honor organization, The Silver Spurs, the handlers and caretakers of Bevo. While attending UT, Smitty met the love of his life, Lenora Guseman, who was born and raised in Houston. During his senior year Smitty enlisted as an apprentice seaman Class V-7 in the United States Navy. This allowed him to graduate fromTexas in 1943 and then report for active duty. Smitty was sent to Northwestern University for a 90-day naval officer training program. After completing training, he was promoted to the rank of Ensign.