Dorwin Wayne Smith was born on Christmas day, 1925 to Nellie Louise Watson Smith and Leroy Smith. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on July 12, 2009 in Mount Vernon, Washington.
He spent his childhood in Sedan, New Mexico where his ride to school was a horse which he shared with his older brother, Ken, and his younger sister, Ilene. The Smith family moved to Farmington, New Mexico where he attended high school.
Dorwin enlisted in the U.S. Marines in 1944. He served as a corporal in the South Pacific and after the war he served with the Marines in China doing reconstruction of roads and bridges which were destroyed during the Japanese occupation. He was honorably discharged in 1946 with the award of expert rifleman.
After the war, he built radio towers throughout the Plaines States and then returned to work in a chemical plant in Henderson, Nevada with his dad and brother. The three men planned to seek their fortunes in Alaska in 1948, but instead settled in Sedro-Woolley. Dorwin worked at Mac’s Wrecking Yard on Willow Lane in Mount Vernon and then he joined Ken, logging in the Finney Creek area. They built the Smith Brothers Sawmill north of Sedro-Woolley in 1957 and sawed hardwood and cedar until 1968. After they sold the mill, Dorwin worked at Carroll Mill Lumberyard, Skagit Lumber, and E&E Lumberyard. He loved helping the customers.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother and a daughter-in-law, Debi Smith.
Dorwin is survived by his wife, Harriet, and his four children, Brett Rhonda, Bart Patty, Brenda Alan, and Burke. Nine grandchildren, Jordan Smith, Ashley Jacob Hughes, Jenna Smith, Nick Lindsay Wood, Tyson Wood, Cody Smith, Adam Thomas, Ian Thomas, and Abby Thomas and by his sister, Ilene Henry Leander.
Graveside Inurnment Services will be held on Thursday, July 16, 2009 at 10:00AM at Hawthorne Memorial Park in Mount Vernon with Pastor Wendy Tingley of Trinity United Presbyterian Church officiating. Memorials are suggested to Alzheimer’s Association 12721 30th Ave N.E. #101 Seattle, WA 98125. Arrangements and Services are under the care of Lemley Chapel, Sedro-Woolley.