John Leon Smith was born in Fairbury, Nebraska on the fine spring day of May 15, 1936 to Wilbur Leon “Smitty” and Nettie Josephine (Summers) Smith.-He was the oldest of five children born to this family.-They lived in Annapolis, Missouri and Bellevue, Nebraska while the kids were small.-It was while Smitty was working at the aircraft factory in Bellevue that young John dressed up in a pint-sized military uniform and memorized every airplane known to man.-He continued this love of aircraft and flying for the rest of his life.-The family settled in Oregon in 1949.

— John played Football and Baseball in high school.-He told the story of gathering up a group of guys to clean & dress turkeys for the Home Ec class one Thanksgiving, much to the surprise of the teacher.-He graduated from Dayton High School in 1954.-After high school, John entered the Air Force and became an aircraft mechanic.

–In 1956, John wooed & wed Marietta Rogers, a lovely young lady from Sheridan.-In 1959, their first son Wesley was born.-Daughter Karen arrived a little more than a year later in 1960.-Finally, Jeffrey was born in 1962, making their family complete.-It was while the family was living in Lebanon that John took flying lessons and got his private license.-The family enjoyed camping & hunting trips, as well as road trips to the Midwest to visit family over the years.

— As John was adrift in the singles scene after this marriage ended, he succumbed to the charms of a young lady by the name of Leanna McNeil, whom he’d met years earlier through his hunting buddies . . . her parents.-The pair of them were married in a double ceremony with John’s youngest brother & his fiancée in 1986.-They started out married life in Auburn, Washington where they had a large group of friends, many of whom followed suit and married after seeing what a fine example John & Leanna set.-From Auburn, they moved to Portland in 1988 when John had a job opportunity to work with United Pipe and Supply.

— John & Leanna enjoyed nearly 26 years of marriage, sharing countless camping trips (a few with the infamous “Moose’s Ass Gang”), family gatherings, concerts, date nights, vacation trips and a even a couple of rafting trips down the Willamette River.

— John enjoyed camping, hunting, shooting, airplanes & flying, movies, cribbage and most of all, his family.-He is survived by his wife, Leanna of Portland; oldest son Wes & wife Colleen, granddaughters Natalie & Jaclyn of Murrieta, CA; daughter Karen & husband Jeff of Tualatin; granddaughter Jillian & family of Albany, grandsons Jesse of Las Vegas, NV and Cody of Tualatin; youngest son Jeff & wife Laurie of Vancouver, grandsons Jeff & family of Bothell, WA and Kyle of Vancouver, granddaughters Crystal & family and Katherine of Vancouver, Amber & family of Maple Valley, WA; 8 great-grandchildren; sister Kate McFee of McMinnville, brothers Calvin of Aloha and Ed of Gresham.-He is also survived by numerous nieces & nephews and their families.-He was preceded in death by his parents and sister Barbara.

— A Celebration of Life open house will be held at the family home on April 21st from 1 to 5 p.m. at 14104 SE Bush Street, Portland.-503-760-2566