This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Smith, Harper, Stolpp, Davis Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/UW.2ADI/2161.2.1 Message Board Post: I don't know where you got the idea that Ernest died in San Mateo County, or in the city of San Bruno, the California Index indicated that he died in San Francisco and the article from the newspaper indicated that he lived at 1349 33rd avenue in San Francisco for five years before his death. Also notice the correct date of death is March 26th, 1963. Death notice and newspaper articles follow - anyone interested in Ernest Leroy Smith the newspaper story includes a photo from 1962, a 35 year old picture of aviator Smith, and a photo of the plane taking off from Oakland's Bay Farm Island. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ SMITH – March 26, 1963, Ernest Leroy, loving husband of Mrs. Isabelle Smith; devoted father of Ernest B. Smith; grandfather of Andrew L. and Ernest P. Smith. A native of Nevada; aged 70 years. A veteran of World War I; Frederick G. Bunche Post No. 1116; Quiet Birdmen; Silver Wings; Press and Union League Club; Sons of Retirement, and holder of the Distinguished Flying Cross. Services Thursday, 10 a.m. Rev. William K. Barrs, officiating daphne SFFS, one church st. San Francisco Chronicle, page 24, Wednesday, March 27, 1963 Aviation Pioneer Dead Thirty-five years ago, pilot Ernest L. Smith waved good-by at Oakland and took off for what was to be the first civilian flight to Hawaii. Yesterday, after a distinguished career as a commercial airline flyer and executive, Ernie Smith died here at the age of 70. For details, see Page 4 San Francisco Chronicle, Front Page, March 27, 1963 Flyer Ernie Smith Is Dead He Made a Pioneer Flight to Hawaii Ernest L. Smith – the beloved, hard-living and utterly charming pilot who made the first civilian flight to Hawaii – died here yesterday morning at the age of 70 His great flight, with navigator Emory B. Bronte, started at Bay Farm Island in Oakland on July 14, 1927, and it ended 25 hours, 36 minutes later in a kiawe (or breadfruit) tree on the island of Molokai. He couldn’t attempt a landing on the beach, he explained, or his single-engine Travel Air monoplane, the City of Oakland, would have flipped over, trapping Bronte in the rear cockpit. EMERGENCY And he couldn’t continue on for the last 60 miles to Honolulu because there wasn’t a drop of fuel left in the tank. Later Captain Ernie Smith became Major Ernie Smith, a Trans World Airlines pilot and finally a TWA executive. He retired five years ago to his home at 1349 33rd avenue, where he died. Bronte meanwhile became a sugar executive in Honolulu. “Ernie was a great man and a great pilot,” Bronte said. “I’m deeply shocked and grieved by his passing. Everybody here in the Islands had a great Aloha for Ernie.” The Government gave both men Distinguished Flying Crosses. And a little monument, nicely maintained, stands at the base of the kiawe tree where an astonished Japanese farmer discovered the two flyers. The men finished their journey to Honolulu by boat and Model T. Ford. FALSE START Except for a piece of bad luck, Ernie Smith might have made the first California to Hawaii flight. He took off on June 28, 1927, with navigator Charles H. Carter. But by the time the heavily loaded plane was over Alcatraz, Carter insisted on turning back. “He threatened to dump all our gas.” Mr. Smith recalled. “There was nothing I could do but give up.” Two hours later, the Army team of Lester J. Maitland and Albert Hegenberger took off in their slightly slower Fokker trimotor, “Bird of Paradise.” They reached Hawaii the next day. Still there was glory enough for everybody. And there was a great air of confidence. NO FEAR “I’m not a bit afraid,” Mr. Smith’s pretty finance said the day of the flight. “ I wouldn’t be worthy to be his girl if I were afraid.” Her confidence in his flying ability was justified – but he came back to marry another girl, Norine Harper of San Francisco and Oakland. Their son, Ernest Bronte Smith, is now a sergeant in the Oakland Police Department. Ernie Smith began flying during World War I after he dropped out of the University of California to join the Army as a cadet. Up to that time young Smith, a native of Reno and a graduate of Fremont High School in Oakland, had planned to become a dentist. INSTRUCTOR Once he got into aviation, he stayed there. He was a flight instructor in the Army, then a civilian barnstormer and a pilot on some of the Nation’s first air lines. He played the role of a British squadron leader in “Hell’s Angeles.” Jean Harlow’s first movie. He joined what is now Trans World Air Lines as a pilot based in Kansas City. In 1936, he returned to San Francisco as the line’s district sales manager. San Francisco was always more fun for Ernie than any other place he could think of. One time, in Prohibition days, he swung by reflex action and knocked down a policeman who had tapped him on a shoulder. At the district station, the captain suggested, “Why don’t you fellows have a drink together and forget it?” The office, his partner and Ernie retired to an adjacent speakeasy – only to be arrested a few minutes later in a Federal raid. The police loved him. Once a couple of officers he had outdistanced on the road to Sacramento finally caught up with him in the State Capitol. He admitted driving 104 miles an hour in his old Essex – or just under the 112 he had managed on his flight to Hawaii. Fascinated, the officers asked if they could borrow the car. He gave them the keys, and they reported back an hour later. They lost their nerve, they said, when the car got up to 90. WITTY As time passed, Mr. Smith gained about 20 pounds. His dapper mustache turned white. But his wit stayed strong, and he always looked trim. He was stricken in 1957 with an old stomach ailment and had been in poor health since that time. He lived rather quietly the last several years with his second wife, the former Isabelle Stolpp. In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Smith is survived by two grandchildren. Mr. Smith was a member of the Frederick G. Bunch Post of the American Legion, Quiet Birdmen, Silver Wings, Sons in Retirement and Press and Union League Club. Services will be held at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) at Daphne’s San Francisco Funeral Service, 1 Church street, with the Rev. William K. Barrs, chaplain of Fort Miley Hospital, officiating. His ashes will be placed in Golden Gate National Cemetery. Friends may send contributions to Father Flanagan’s Boys Town. San Francisco Chronicle, Page 4, Wednesday, March 27, 1963 From CADI: SMITH ERNEST L 01/10/1893 DAVIS M SAN FRANCISCO 03/26/1963 487-07-4176 70 yrs