Calvin "Knish" SMITH

Calvin Smith

Cal's 2011 Autobiography

Wow! Fifty years! Seems like yesterday. No way at eighteen years old I could have imagined where my life would lead me from Westport.

Forty plus years of marriage (to a blond I met on Compo Beach, Jann Briggs, class of 1965 ), three sons, three pseudo-sons, grandchildren, serving in a war, a career in aviation.

I thought I would be a marine biologist, clean up Long Island Sound, scuba dive and water-ski every day, maybe live in Westport my whole life. Didn’t happen. Something better did!

Graduated from Illinois college and entered the Air Force. Spent twenty years there as a pilot and Chief of Air Traffic Control. Spent two years with Continental Airlines and then had a 13 year career with United Airlines as a 747 Pilot. Have traveled all over the world and loved it all! Lived in Florida, Arizona, Thailand, California and the last 35 years in Washington state. I now live back on the water in a town that reminds me of Westport, Gig Harbor, WA. I have fulfilled my need for speed with a fast boat and cars. Never was a Downshifter though, even though my brother Mark was their first president. By the way, he lives in Manzanita and Portland, Oregon, not too far from me.

I will always love the Westport that I grew up in…riding bikes everywhere as a kid, hitch-hiking, endless hours at Nash’s Pond and the Mill Pond, Compo, Staples football on a crisp fall afternoon, great friends…all those things made me who I became in the last fifty years.

Most of all I have a wonderful family that has grown and grown. Life has been good to me. I hope it has also been nice to you. See you at the 50th reunion!

Cal’s Update (2021)

We still live in Washington State and keep busy with two acres of gardens, fruit trees and chickens. Unfortunately Cal has been diagnosed with a disease call Primary Progressive Aphasia (PPA) that has taken away his ability to speak, read, and write, along with various executive cognitive functions. But, Cal is still in there and although this is a new journey for us we cherish each day and are grateful that our kids and grandkids are nearby.

Life is what you make it and ours is pretty good. Cheers to all the fond memories of Westport and the Class of 1961!