Obituary of Arthur Reed Smith

Arthur Reed Smith died on March 29, 2025, at the Seneca View Nursing Facility in Montour Falls, Schuyler County, NY. He was 87 years old. Interment will be in the family plot at the Hector Presbyterian Church in Hector, NY. Arthur was born March 13, 1938, in Syracuse, NY as the fourth child of the late Alfred E. and Marion Moore Smith. His father Alfred, who grew up in Burdett, NY, was a graduate of Cornell University School of Engineering (Class of 1923), and his mother Marion, who grew up in Hector, NY, was briefly a schoolteacher at a one room schoolhouse in Hector. Arthur's three older sisters, all of whom predeceased him, were Barbara (Joseph) Leahey (Valois, NY), Martha (Frank) Hauser (Horseheads, NY) and Nancy (Paul) Baratier (DePeyster, NY). Arthur was raised in Syracuse, NY until 1949, when the family moved to Mexico, NY. Arthur graduated from the Mexico Academy and Central School in Mexico, NY in 1957 with a Regents Diploma, and enlisted in the U.S. Army for a period of four years, some of which he served in Okinawa, Japan. After his active-duty Army service he returned to Mexico, NY where he joined the ALCAN Company in Oswego, NY and had a career of 25 years. In retirement, Arthur pursued many activities in the Upstate NY area. In the summer he participated in many Historic Car shows across Central, NY with his 1974 Dodge Charger. In the winter, he was a very active snow mobiler in the Tug Hill region, as well as the western Adirondacks. On many a New Year's Eve he hosted an evening bonfire and picnic in the snowy pine woods of his property for relatives, neighbors, and friends. He is survived by 5 nieces and 7 nephews and many great (and great great) nieces and nephews, who will truly miss him.