MT. VERNON - Paul Forrest Smith, 88, passed away in the morning hours on Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2011, at the Champaign-Urbana Rehab Center in Savoy. Formerly a longtime resident of Belleville, Paul and his wife, Dorothy relocated to Champaign in April of 2008 to live with their daughter, Paula Smith, and her husband, John Stoops. Dorothy preceded him in death in January of 2009. Paul was born in Mt. Vernon on Feb. 6, 1922, the son of Mabel and Pearl Smith, and a brother William Smith preceded him in death. His sister, Alice (Jim) Green survives. In his lifetime, he was blessed to have loving nieces, nephews, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, cousins, aunts and uncles. He also enjoyed being a step great-grandpa to Yeva and Vanya (Christopher and Anastasia), Julia (Brandy and Dan Miklusicak) and Ethan (Eric Stoops and Jennifer Penn). As a teenager, he was on the Green Hills Country Club eight-man team and became the club champion at the age of 16. He participated in three state high school golf championships representing Mt. Vernon. >From 1942 to 1950, Paul was a World War II Navy pilot (Atlantic Fleet), finished college (Blackburn and Fenn College) and worked for the American Gas Association in Cleveland. After returning to live in Mt. Vernon, he was the Elks State Champion in 1952 and the Southern Illinois Champion in 1953. He competed in several state championships, with the best being at the Urbana Country Club when the eventual winner beat him on the 21st hole in the quarterfinals. Along the way, he competed and won many individual and team competitions. Some of the highlights include: Low St. Louis area qualifier for the 1976 USGA Public Links in Minnesota; two-time National Senior Olympics Champion 1995 (Baton Rouge) and 1997 (Tucson); low qualifier at the age of 70 for all ages at the Illinois Senior Olympic qualifier; fourth in the 70-75 age group in 1999 (Orlando); and gold medal recipient in September 2009 for the Illinois Senior Olympics in Springfield. While the Smith family lived in Freeburg and then in Belleville, he shared his enthusiasm for golf and bridge with his wife, daughter and many memorable friends. He was recently asked what was his favorite golf course and he responded that it was the people he played with that made golf special to him. He thrived on the interactions with his family, friends, and neighbors both off and on the golf course in the Mt. Vernon and Belleville area. Before relocating, he and his wife were members of the First Presbyterian Church in Belleville. Paul recently played golf on Veterans Day and was looking forward to a possible trip to Washington D.C. with the Honor Flight Program for veterans of World War II. It was Mr. Smith's wishes to be cremated. A memorial service is planned at a later date at East Salem Cemetery in Mt. Vernon. Special written memories of how Mr. Smith touched your life may be sent to Morgan Memorial Home at 1304