During a recent visit with Ray Smith in Walkersville, Sandy Simpson, care coordinator with Right at Home learned some interesting facts about his life in Frederick.

He began with, “I bet you didn’t know that once upon a time there were two Thanksgivings.” Smith went on to explain that in 1938, whirking in Pennsylvania, he learned that Thanksgiving was celebrated the fourth Thursday of November, while in Maryland, they celebrated Thanksgiving the third Thursday.

Smith was born June, 1917, into a family of farmers. His parents had 12 children and he was the eighth of seven boys and five girls. He said the entire family was kept busy with chores on their farm and there wasn’t a lot of time for recreation and fun. For enjoyment he and his siblings would hunt or go fishing in a nearby creek. Sometimes if they were lucky they got to go into downtown Frederick to the dime store or bowling. When Smith was old enough to drive, his father would let him borrow his 1925 Chevy.

Smith stayed on the farm until he was 21. “I wasn’t able to join the armed services because of bad eyes.”  He remembers growing up without indoor plumbing. They had to go down to the spring and carry water back to the house.

One of Smith’s first jobs was with Reese Furniture where he worked for three years, making 25-cents an hour. When he heard of an opportunity in Frederick to work for a brush factory, he returned to Walkersville. “They were the biggest brush factory in the world,” he recalls. “They made brushes out of ox fiber for all kinds of things — things like hair, clothes, and floors,” said Smith. He remembers being excited to learn he would be making 35-cents an hour. Smith stayed with the brush company for 25 years. He went to work for the National Insititutes of Health (NIH) in Washington, where he was trained in plumbing. He remembers that he was allowed to become a plumber right away and was given the job of working on the autoclave for the NIH.

In 1951, at the age of 34, Smith married and had two daughters. He remains in the home that was built for his family. Now 92, Smith continues to drive. One of his biggest pastimes is gardening. He loves growing vegetables and claims, “you name it, I grew it!” He enjoys giving spring onions to friends and family.

When Simpson asked Smith if he ever got to travel, he talked about one time when his older brother drove him to the “Fountain of Youth” in Florida. He drank from the fountain and to this day, his siblings say that’s why he has stayed in such good health and looks so good for his age.

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Source: Carole Luber, Right at Home Frederick, Carroll and Howard counties; 301-696-1122